


Healer's Tail

by J_P_Lupine



Category: Mushishi
Genre: F/M, Fantasy, Freedom, Hybrids, Purring, Smut, Spiritual, Supernatural Elements, Tail Stroking, escaping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:55:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24481615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_P_Lupine/pseuds/J_P_Lupine
Summary: Born different and raised secluded, Koga desires to escape her current way of life. One day a strange man appears in her garden and offers her just that.A/N: This is one of the old fics from my heavy anime years and I thought I'd post it for the Hell of it.(Published Date: May 31, 2020)
Relationships: Ginko/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

Looking out to the garden through the opened doors, I sipped on my tea while sitting on a pillow. The birds in the trees were chirping and it was somewhere around noon by now, but this was the only time of day I had peace to myself. My mornings were spent bathing and being prepared for the people that would come after lunch.

My father never let me do things for myself, so he had a few workers specifically for me to wash me, cloth me, even prepare only my meals. It was suffocating to never have an ounce of freedom without someone constantly looking over my shoulder, but my noons drinking tea while looking in the garden was the closest thing I had to normalcy and quiet. I didn't like my every move being dictated by my parents, I was an adult now, but they never ceased due to my....abilities.

After my little time in my false paradise, I was lead to the main room of the house as people were let in. They came with gifts of money and food, and the poor brought anything of value they had left to present to me. I hated it, but my parents had put it this way and this was how they made their fortune.

People would pile their gifts before me, begging for me to have mercy on them, and my parents chose those who would actually receive this 'mercy' they believed I could provide them with. I wasn't a god, nor was I believed to be one, but they believed I had a connection to one because of how I looked and what I could do.

They praised me as an almighty healer for the illnesses doctors could not cure, but all I did was remove something they couldn't see and they just got better after. Ever since I could remember, I saw these....things....that would either crawl across the ground or float in the air. They ranged in colors and shapes and no one else seemed to see them.

"Miss, it's time." A voice called from behind me, and I sighed through my nose. Closing my eyes for a second, I steeled myself in preparation for the mournful and sorrow filled faces that would be begging me for help. Setting my teacup down, I rose to my feet and gave one last look to the garden full of colorful flowers and bright greenery.

Turning towards the door, the woman standing there straightened my kimono before letting me pass. Walking to the main room, the woman was fixing my hair, putting loose strands that had fallen back where they had come from.

"All right, I heard that there was a really wealthy family waiting outside. After they give their offering, they're the first you will heal, understand?" My mother questioned while fluffing up the pillow in the seat I would sit in. _'Please, just stop....'_ I thought. _'Just let me go outside.... These people shouldn't have to give all that they have for this.... Let me go for a walk, at least....'_

"How's our healer feeling today?" Father asked as he walked in, running his fingers through his hair to make it look more presentable. "Up to make some miracles happen? For those who pay, of course." He added under his breath. Just sitting down, I didn't answer.

"Hey, honey? Does it look like her ears are sticking out less than usual today?" Mother asked, looking at me closely while talking to my father.

"They look the same to me, you're being paranoid."

"No, look- they're droopier." Mother gently grabbed my pointed ears while lifting them. "See, this is where they usually are! Do you think it's a sign?"

"She's probably just a bit tired, dear, now get over here. The people are about to come in." Father waved her over and I hid my hands in my sleeves. The people that came to see me believed that my touch could cure them, but my parents knew what I told them I really did and they thought I saw demons that caused illnesses and exorcised them. I'd tried explaining many times that these things weren't demons, but I honestly wasn't sure what they were myself....

The first people to enter the room were a family of three carrying a fourth as someone else brought in a small chest of money. They placed it at my feet, opening it to show the silver and gold inside, then began to talk about what was ailing the young man they carried before more people began to flood in and place their gifts before me.

I could only actually help about half, the rest were sick because of something beyond me and were more likely to get help from a real doctor. And, yes, my ears were drooping. Seeing these people did not bring me pleasure like it did my parents, it brought me guilt.

After the gifts of food and money and goods were presented, I was lead to another room where people of my parents' choosing would come in to be 'healed'. Of course, the young man from the rich family was first and laid out in front of me.

His skin was pale, his breath shallow, and he would cough every now and then. The family was huddled against the wall, watching me while not allowed to get any closer. There had been incidents of people grabbing me, thinking that would help them get better, but it didn't work that way and that's why they thought _I_ had to touch _them_.

Opening the front of the young man's robe, I assumed his difficulty breathing had to do with something in his chest. Right above his sternum, I saw a lump that looked to be squirming in a circular motion in the same spot. I'd seen this a few times before in this area, so I knew what to do.

Freeing one of my hands from my sleeve, I used my other hand to hold it back before reaching out. I heard the family take in a sharp breath, seeing that I was going to help the man in front of me. Gently touching the swirling lump, it just continued to move along as I pushed it up the young man's chest towards his throat. Leading it up his throat, I opened his mouth to let the thing out before catching it. It was still swirling in my hands as I went to the door to outside.

Sliding it open with my foot, I blew on the creature in my hands and it caught on the wind before spinning away into the sky. Returning to the young man's side, the family was looking at me strangely because they couldn't see what I could. Sighing, I now had to get the guy to take in a deep breath somehow to get back to normal.

Raising my hand over his gut, I balled my hand into a fist and slammed it down onto his stomach. He woke up with a gasp before he started groaning, holding where I had hit him. The family started crying, seeing the young man sitting up as color returned to his face.

The next person to come in had a little creature on her shoulder and she was complaining of excruciating pain whenever something touched her shoulder. She sat in front of me, and I looked right at the thing resting there. The woman flinched when I reached out, but gasped in surprise when she felt no pain as I plucked the thing off of her shoulder. My fingertips tingled from touching it, and I tossed it outside to get rid of it.

That's what I usually did, if I didn't have to kill it, I tossed it into the backyard and it was gone a few minutes later. They never stuck around long, and I assumed it was because they didn't like being manhandled or something.

"It's gone! Thank you! Thank you!" The woman bowed to me over and over again and I just wanted her to stop.

~

"Miss, your tea." One of the workers bowed while handing me a cup. I accepted it and took in a deep breath of the fresh air outside. Closing my eyes, I calmly listened to the birds and insects in the garden. To the side of the garden was a forest, so on lucky days I'd get to spot a deer or rabbit grazing.

Blowing on my tea, I slowly opened my eyes, watching the steam billow up into the air. I jolted when I suddenly heard a thud and I looked over to see someone leaning on the porch, panting as some sort of box with straps sat next to them.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find this place?" The man panted. "Let alone get to it?" He raised his head, placing his hands on his lower back as he took in deep breaths. My eyes went wide, seeing how white his hair was.

He looked rather young to have hair as white as snow, and one of his eyes was covered by his pale hair. When he opened his eyes, they were so green and I didn't know if his looks were natural where he came from, or if he was an oddity like me....

"Ah, you must be the healer. I've heard of you." He said while looking at me. "I am Ginko, a Mushishi." He held out his hand in a friendly gesture, but instead I just stared at him in silence for a few seconds before my tail twitched. His gaze went to it and he looked a bit surprised. ....He could see it? No one could see it.... My tail was the only strange thing about me no one else could see.

Panicking, I grabbed the pillow underneath me and threw it at him before dashing behind the door without spilling my tea. Pressing my back against the wall, I hoped he would just go away. People couldn't get to the garden, it was surrounded by the house on three sides with the dense forest on the fourth, so how had he? ....Wait, had he come from the woods?

"P-people aren't allowed in the garden!"

"Ah, then I'll come in." And the pillow was tossed back into the room before the man plopped down next to it while looking out to the garden. "I heard you can heal people with a touch." He calmly glanced over to me as my hold on my tea tightened.

"You have the wrong person. The healer lives at the house a few roads over." I lied, and his face told me he knew I was bullshitting.

"Don't know if you've noticed, but there aren't that many people around here with bright red hair and pointed ears like that." His voice sounded rather relaxed, and he wasn't moving from his spot. "Though, none of the stories seemed to mention a tail."

"....So you can actually see it?"

"....Am I not supposed to?"

"You're the first to be able to." I replied. "I asked my parents about it, but they just said it was my tether." I mumbled.

"Tether?" He rose a brow.

"To the god that gives me the power to heal."

"And you don't think so?"

"I know so." Feeling a bit calmer, I felt the man wasn't of the dangerous variety as he simply sat there in a rather laid-back manner. "May I ask why you're here?"

"I heard rumors of a strange woman that could heal with a touch, and I came to see it for myself." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. Lighting it, he breathed before a puff of white smoke swirled into the air. The smoke was strange....it moved differently.... Glancing to the door, I knew I had some time before a worker came to fetch me.

Taking in a slow breath, I sighed before sitting down on my pillow next to the man while looking to the garden. Sipping from my tea, it wasn't often I could speak to people, so I might as well take my chance.

"I don't heal with a touch." I muttered, and the man looked at me from the corner of his eye while smoking.

"Oh? Then the stories are false?" He droned.

"To a degree." A butterfly fluttered into view, landing on a flower growing on top of a bush. "I just get rid of the little creatures."

"Little creatures?"

"....They don't look like animals. More like plants or insects, but none I've ever seen before." I explained. "They range in colors and shapes, but no one else seems able to see them."

"Sounds like mushi."

"Mushi?" Glancing to him, my cup rested in my palm on my lap.

"They are things closer to life, neither plants nor animals...." The pale haired man said lowly as my tail twitched. I felt my ears perk, interested in what he was telling me since he seemed to know what these things I saw were. "Think of these four fingers as animals, and the thumb represents plants." He began, holding up one hand while pointing to his fingers. "Than humans are here. Furthest away from the heart, at the tip of the middle finger." Watching as he tapped his middle finger, I took a drink from my tea. "The farther in on the hand, the lower the creature. As you go along, around the wrist, all blood vessels come together, right?"

"Right." I nodded.

"Around here are fungi and microbes." His thumb touched his wrist as he continued to explain. "At this point, it's hard to distinguish between plant and animal. But there are still things beyond those. High up the arm...." My eyes followed his thumb as it ran up his arm and past his elbow. "....past the shoulder....and at last the things around here may be the ones called Mushi or 'green things'." A puff of smoke left his mouth as he touched his chest over his heart. "Since they are so close to life, their shape and existence is vague. So people are divided into those who can see them and those who can't."

"And these are the things that I see? Mushi?" My tail swayed as I brought my cup to my lips.

"I believe so." He replied while dropping his hand into his lap. "You said you get rid of them- how?"

"I take them." I answered, and he looked at me. "Then I put them outside if I don't have to kill them." He raised a brow before glancing around the garden. "Ah, they leave after a while. It's like I'm some sort of repellent to them, that or they just don't like me." I joked.

"I see...." He said lowly as I watched the smoke from his cigarette. It still seemed strange to me, so I cautiously reached out my hand and touched it. The smoke felt weird, like snakes of air coiling around my fingers and....I felt tired. "It's a Mushi." The man stated while watching me. "It wraps around other Mushi and doesn't let go until it vanishes."

The feeling of wanting to sleep slowly faded as the smoke did, and I couldn't figure if it was connected or not.

"Miss!" My head whipped around to see one of the workers in the doorway, staring wide-eyed at the white haired man. "Who are you?! If you want to be healed, you have to wait like the rest of them!" She stormed into the room, grabbing me by my arm and pulling me away from the stranger. I dropped my cup and the rest of my tea spilled onto the porch.

"I am Ginko. I'm not here to be healed, I'm a Mushishi." He calmly stated while tapping the ashes off of his cigarette into the grass.

"We don't need the likes of you here." The worker's voice was a bit cold and I didn't understand why. "Leave before-"

"We were just talking." I stated while cutting her off. "I apologize, Ginko, I must be going now. Please, enjoy the garden as long as you like." I slightly bowed to him.

"Miss!"

"I believe we must go before father is upset by my lateness." Straightening my kimono, I went to the door. I gave one last look over my shoulder to the man, then left as my ears drooped. At least now I knew what those little creatures are....but it still didn't feel right to be doing what I was to these people. I didn't need their money or their food, I had plenty.

~

"Tea in the garden again, I see." Looking up, I saw the green eyed man from before standing there with his hands in his pockets.

"It's the only time of peace for me." I replied. "Father and Mother leave me be for these short moments alone." Glancing back to the garden, I listened to the birds there as a gentle breeze rolled past and rustled the leaves.

"Mm." He hummed before sitting on the edge of the porch.

"Any reason as to why you're back?" Asking, my eyes drifted to the side of his head as he was looking straight ahead.

"Curiosity." He replied and my ears perked. "Were you born looking like that?"

"My ears were much smaller, but other than that, yes."

"The tail included?"

"My mother told me I used to play with something that wasn't there when I was a baby, so I'd assume so." I answered him. "So what is it that a Mushishi does?"

"A Mushishi deals with Mushi. We take care of them if they are bothering someone, and we try to keep them from harming people while at the same time trying to keep people from harming them." Ginko said. "It's much like what you do."

"Except you're not monopolized and trapped within your own home." I popped off.

"Trapped?" He looked at me as I held my cup in front of my mouth.

"My parents don't allow me outside of the house. I am to remain here or with them- they fear losing my 'ability' and no longer gaining the offerings given by the people." My eyes went to the garden as my tone took on a bitter edge. "Not to mention, people may freak out by the way I look." I felt my ears droop at the thought of me walking down the street and people panicking.

"Ah, they moved." Ginko was pointedly looking at my ears.

"It happens."

"Is it just the ears, hair, and tail that's different?"

"No, my teeth as well. And my senses."

"Teeth?" He questioned, and I opened my jaws to show him. Ginko held his chin while narrowing his eyes as he looked, then he mumbled something I hardly understood.

"What?"

"As I thought, you're a half-Mushi." He stated while dropping his hand. "Quite rare, but possible in certain cases. It would explain the bright hair as well." I chuckled, making him raise a brow at me. "What?"

"Me? Half-Mushi?" Chuckling some more, I hid my mouth behind one of my sleeves. "I mean, of course I look strange, but that would imply my mother had offspring with something she couldn't even see."

"Some are visible to the human eye." Ginko said. "And she could have been infected rather than intentionally procreating with a Mushi." Pausing, I saw that his expression was rather serious.

"You really believe this?"

"You have a tail. You don't? It would also explain why there's hardly any Mushi here."

"....Holy fuck." I said lowly, and his eyes went a fraction wider. "Does that mean you're here to get rid of me?"

"No, no." He shook his head. "You're not of the parasitic variety of Mushi. I didn't even know until I had a look at you."

"And that would be the only explanation for the way I look? Being half-Mushi?" I questioned.

"Yes." He stated.

"Miss, it's time." Looking over my shoulder, I sighed. Thankfully, though, the white haired man was outside on the porch and couldn't be seen by the woman at the door. Sighing, I sent the man a small wave, blocking the action from the woman's view with my body. Rising to my feet, I went to follow the woman.

Later that day, I managed to get away back to the garden, but it was night and I assumed the man had already left. However, he was where I had left him, smoking as he looked up at the sky. Following his gaze, I saw the innumerable stars twinkling in the inky blackness of the sky. The moon was but a crescent, but it still shone so brightly....

"I see your curiosity drives you." I said while sitting next to him.

"Among other things." He nodded, smoke escaping from his lips and into the air before dissipating.

"Why do I feel that you are hiding in the garden like a miscreant?"

"Miscreant? No. Hiding? Maybe." The corner of his mouth twitched up into a smile. "You said that the last Mushishi was driven off, but I'd rather not have the same outcome until I've figured you out."

"Me?"

"Yes. I'm not quite sure what type of Mushi may have affected your mother to make you as you are."

"I see." I nodded. "Because I was born this way, there's no fixing it, is there?"

"No. But is that what you want?"

"Not at all." I replied as my tail twitched. "I only wish things had turned out differently."

"How so?"

"This arrangement my parents have with the people that come to be healed and myself. I never liked it, but this is what I grew up with and I have no where else to go."

"....Why don't you become a real Mushishi? It would nearly be the same work that you do now, but you get to travel and you determine everything else." Ginko breathed out more smoke. "If you don't wish to travel alone, many Mushishi would like to have someone around that repels Mushi. We tend to naturally attract them, you see." Looking at him, I felt my ears perk.

"Is that actually a possibility for me? I mean, with me being half-Mushi as it is. How would I even get out of here?"

"Well, you could always start by stepping off of the porch. Slowly but surely, you'll reach the forest, and whatever's beyond it as long as you remember to place one foot in front of the other. However, it can be quite dangerous out there, so you should really think it over to see if that's what you want to d-" And he cut himself off as I slid my feet into the grass.

The earth was cool and the grass was soft between my toes. I had done this before when I was a child, but that was long ago and I hadn't dared try it again after Father caught me that one time. Standing off of the porch, I took a few steps further into the garden.


	2. Chapter 2

**_"Peculiar creatures that seem as from another world....primitive and strange....shaped differently than common animals and plants. Inspiring fear and bearing some kind of similarity to insects, since ancient times people have been calling them 'Mushi'."_ **

**_-Mushishi_ **

I never got to see the looks on my parents' faces when they discovered I was no longer there, but the things I saw after I left made up for it and then some. Plants that were never in the garden, insects that never crawled through the grass back home, birds, fish, and people I had never seen before.... It was all quite wonderful. While traveling, I always wrapped up my hair and ears whenever I had to pass through places with people. Other than that, though, I was free to be me.

No more kimonos, no more people doing everything for me, no one dictating my every move.... It was wonderful.

Not to mention the Mushishi I traveled with was slowly teaching me more about Mushi and I got a bit excited whenever I saw a familiar one in the notes and scrolls he showed me. I also learned that not all Mushi that I encountered I could just pick up and toss out the back door, many had to be dealt with by using medicine that the Mushishi made or procured.

Things at first were very difficult for me because everything had been done for me before, but now I could do many things on my own and I liked it. I liked the feeling of freedom and independence I had gained, and there was nothing that would make me want to give up what I had now.

"Ah.... This was rude of me.... I'm the Mushishi Ginko." The white haired male was saying as I stepped onto the porch. "This is my assistant, Koga." He then gestured to me as I sat down and dropped the flowers in my arms. There was a woman with the boy now, and it looked like Ginko had already treated him by now as well. "I heard rumors about the girl in the storehouse." He softly smiled while holding his cigarette.

The young woman was looking at Ginko sternly before he continued to speak.

"In her case, it's not about external causes. It can only be cured by a Mushishi." He stated while putting the cigarette between his lips.

"Biki.... Will he get well?"

"Yeah.... In his case, the Mushi didn't seem to have spread." The man replied while standing up. "The medicine I gave him is probably enough. I hope you don't mind, but it seems Koga has brought them flowers." Ginko glanced down at me as I was separating the plants into two piles. One was for the boy, the other was for the girl because even if you couldn't see for a while, they were still nice to smell and feel.

~

"Sui!" The boy woke up with a start, breathing a bit heavier than before.

"You're awake?" The boy rolled his head to look over. "Your eyes....do they still hurt?" Ginko asked as the kid sat up and touched his face.

"Mm-mm." He hummed.

"Good....it worked. The cause of Sui's illness is a type of Mushi called Manako no Yami." The man explained. "It breeds in darkness." Sitting a bit away from Ginko as he smoked, our time together had let me learn that the smoke from his cigarettes made me sleepy and we figured it had to do with my Mushi half being affected. "You spent a bit too much time in the dark with Sui, isn't it?"

"You know Sui?" The boy asked.

"Each time I closed my second eyelids, that girl was on the other shore." Ginko replied as he looked out the window. "That river of light is made of something different from the light above ground. It hurts your eyes if you stand too close when you look at it." The white haired man then rose to his feet while sticking his hands into his pockets. "After Sunset, we'll begin Sui's treatment."

"Understood."

Waiting until the sun dipped behind the horizon, Biki led us to the storehouse with the moon lighting our way. It was a building built to last, and the steps were covered in moss as the same plant was growing up the sides of the storehouse.

"Stay here with Biki, Koga. I'll be right back." Ginko said before he went in. My tail twitched, and I patiently stood next to the boy until a little girl came outside.

"Sui." Biki said lowly as the girl with short hair stepped out with her eyes closed. A gentle wind rustled her clothes and hair, and her skin was pale from the lack of sun.

"Sui's eyeballs are already dead." Ginko stated while placing the cigarette between his lips. Reaching into his pocket, he then pulled out a black glove and put it on as he went down the steps. "But....I'll see what I can do. If you keep your second eyelids closed for too long, the darkness will eat your eyeballs. Koga, keep him back." Nodding, I stepped in front of Biki.

Ginko didn't want the other kid too close in case the Mushi infecting Sui tried to infect him again. So, I mostly blocked him from Sui as he peeked around my arm.

"Ready, Sui? We'll lure the Mushi out with moonlight. With your second eyelids still closed, slowly open your eyes." Ginko instructed the little girl as he had a serious expression on his face. Sui hesitantly obeyed, opening her eyelids to show absolutely nothing but darkness in her sockets. Suddenly, something that looked like silver goo began to well out from where her eyes should be, dripping down her cheeks in thick globs. "Come out, you Mushi. It's light."

The substance from her eyes began to rise up towards the moon and I tensed in front of Biki.

"M-Mushi?!" Biki stepped back as the goo was coming out of the girl in insane quantities before shooting out like a flood at Ginko. My tail twitched, but I remained in place, trusting that the man knew what he was doing.

"Sui, all right. Close your eyes!" Ginko's head popped out of the flood and the girl did as she was told, drawing the silver goo back into her eyes. The white haired man stood to his full height while looking down at his hand. He was holding something dark and snake-like as it wrapped around his wrist and squirmed. Ginko crushed its head before dropping it as it turned to what looked like ash. "That was it." He stated as he pulled the glove off. "Now....about Sui's eyeballs."

"It's a Mushi...." Biki stammered. "It was true that in her eyes....there were M-Mushi...." He was looking down at the thing now dead on the ground and I felt my shoulders relax as Ginko stepped towards Sui. He gently grabbed the girls cheek while opening one of her eyes to look.

"As expected, they're of no use anymore." The man then reached up towards his own face. "I don't know if this will do the trick, but...." Biki let out a sound of surprise as Ginko popped out one of his eyes. _'Holy shit....is that normal for Mushishi?!'_ I thought. _'Can they just pop out their eyes like that?'_ "I'll give this to Sui. You....were wondering about it earlier, weren't you?" He glanced to Biki as the boy was pointing and looking rather pale. "Now don't go pale.... It's an artificial eye. Koga, could you get me a syringe?" Nodding, I went over to his box of stuff he always carried and dug through the drawers to find a syringe.

"Here." I handed it to him, glancing to the eyes he held in his hand so nonchalantly. Ginko jabbed the needle into some of the left over silver goo and filled the syringe.

"This is some of the earlier liquid Mushi." The man stated as the syringe was shaking from the life within it. "If I inject this, even mere glass should become a living eye." The man spoke rather calmly as he stuck the needle into the false eye and it began to glow.

"Well.... Can I ask something?" Biki spoke up. "About the river of light that you were seeing.... What exactly is it?" Ginko didn't answer, and instead tilted Sui's head up before pushing the glowing eye into her left socket. There was a flash of blindingly bright light and I flinched while covering my eyes.

Rubbing them when the light faded, I blinked a few times before looking to Sui. She was looking to Biki, having the same colored eye as Ginko, and a smile pulled at her lips as the boy was grinning.

~

Walking next to Ginko, I kept glancing at him, wondering how he had lost his real eye. I didn't ask, I didn't want to be rude or dredge up any bad memories for him.

When we reached a small river, we stopped to fill our water and the white haired man knelt down to wash his face in the cool water. I could hear birds and insects in the trees around us, and my curiosity was itching.... I wanted to ask, but I also didn't want to- it was quite the delimma.

Watching as he scrubbed his hands against his face, I pulled the canteen from the river and screwed on the lid. Ginko was seemingly looking at his reflection in the flowing water now, and briefly lifted up his hair to look at his eyes. Dropping his hair, he leaned back against his things and put a cigarette in his mouth.

He just sat there, listening to the forest calmly as smoke escaped his lips every now and then. Ginko closed his eyes, leaning his head back as a soft wind rolled past.

"You're wondering why I didn't tell you, right?" He spoke softly.

"I can't deny that the question is there." I replied.

"Well, I wouldn't be able to give an answer if you asked what happened." A little pillar of smoke came from the end of the cigarette. Hesitantly reaching out, I brushed my fingers over his forehead to move his bangs out of the way.

"....What do you mean?"

"I don't have any memories from before I was ten." Ginko answered as he slowly opened his eyes. His empty socket was like Sui's, filled with complete darkness like a shadow was curled up and taking place of his eyeball. "The first thing I can remember is wandering the darkness, following a moon that rose and fell in the sky countless times until finally the sun came. When I got out of the forest, I was just like this." He told me as I looked at his face and his green eye was looking back at me.

My tail twitched as I let his snowy hair fall back into his face. Crossing my legs as I sat in front of him, I dropped my hands into my lap.

"So there's nothing from before then?"

"No." Ginko stated as he blew out some smoke. "Though, I have tried to remember on many occasions, but nothing ever came back other than my name."

"I must admit, I thought popping out your eyeball was a common thing for Mushishis when I saw you do it." There was a pause of silence as he looked at me, then his lips twitched up into a smile as he laughed.


	3. Chapter 3

Trudging through the snow behind Ginko, I was hopping from one of his footprints to the next to help keep me occupied. The Mushishi was bundled up for the weather, but all I needed was a scarf and the long coat he usually wore when it was warmer. Catching up to him, he sighed while looking over a village below.

"So that's it." He said lowly and I glanced up to see snow piled on his shoulders and head. Brushing the frozen flakes from his shoulders, I had to jump to get the snow off of his head. "You know, I would ask why you aren't freezing, but I'll just put that down as one of the things pertaining to your Mushi half."

"Wise choice." I nodded as we made our way through the snow.

~

"Thank you for coming." The old woman said as we sat by a fire. "You are the Mushishi, Ginko-san, correct?" She questioned as I held my hot tea in both hands.

"Yes."

"I am Shirasawa, chief of this village." The old woman bowed. "As a representative of this town, I called you here." She then sat up with a sad smile. "As you can see, this place is deep in the base of the mountains. It's a quiet village where the wind doesn't blow. Especially on snowy nights like these, there's no sound at all. They say that sometimes even the sound of people talking disappears. And that's when people go deaf."

"Is that in both ears?"

"For most people, it's in one ear." Shirasawa replied. "Since the doctors at the foot of the mountain were puzzled by this, I thought it may be caused by supernatural forces." Sipping the tea after blowing on it, I briefly glanced around. There wasn't any Mushishi in the room, but that didn't mean anything. If they were involved, they could be anywhere....

~

"I see, this mucus...." Ginko mumbled while looking in a man's ear. "This is caused by Mushi." He stated as the man sat up all of the way. "It's called Un." The white haired man waved his hand at me and I dug through the drawers of his stuff to find what he needed. Handing him a few scrolls, he took one and handed the rest back. "This is what's eating the sound." He said after opening the scroll of paper and pointing at something that looked like a snail.

Looking over his shoulder, I remembered him teaching me about this one.

"Doesn't that usually live in the forest?" I asked.

"Normally, but....the snow absorbs sound. That's probably why they came to the village in search of sound." The white haired man then turned to me. "Ready for a Mushi hunt?" He raised his visible brow and I bounded off through the building.

After leaving my parents, I discovered that I was quite adept at finding Mushi and even climbing because of my tail. I figured my ability to find Mushi nearby came from the years of trying to find them in people, but it was a skill that came in handy in times like these. I was also fast, so I was soon in the top of the building and climbing through the rafters while searching the ceilings and cracks the Mushi could hide in.

"Ginko!" I called when I found them, and the Mushishi showed up with a lantern as I was crouched on a wooden beam with my tail wrapped around it.

"Ah, here they are." He smirked while looking up at the glowing green swirls. "There's a large number of them nesting here. It's no wonder all the sound gets eaten up." The Un shivered when the lantern shined on them, and Ginko reached up to pluck one from the ceiling where he could reach. "When that happens, they leave the herd and attach to mammals."

"It looks like a snail." One of the people that followed Ginko mumbled. Suddenly, the swirls unraveled and squirmed before vanishing. "It disappeared."

"They've moved." Ginko lowered the lantern and I fell off the back of the beam, unraveling my tail when I faced the floor before dropping and landing on the balls of my feet. Standing from my previous crouched position, I dusted my hands off onto my pants as the Mushishi continued to talk. "Did you know that there's a part of the ear that looks just like a snail? The starved Un leave their shell, then live as parasites inside an ear, eating all the sound that enters." He explained as we walked back to where everyone else was. "But it doesn't break that section of the ear."

"Um.... Is this enough warm water?" A woman asked while holding a large bowl with steaming water.

"Thanks." Ginko nodded and she placed the bowl down. The white haired man then poured a white powder into the water and mixed it. After, he put it into a strange pot and poured it into a man's ear. "If you pour this into the ear...." He trailed off as water leaked out. An Un then wriggled out of the man's ear and dropped into his lap before disappearing. "Just like that."

"Agh! That's salty. What is this?" The man coughed.

"It's salt." Ginko smirked.

"Salt? Hey, I can hear!"

"Now, if you just spray this on the inside of your roof there shouldn't be any more problems."

~

"You surprised me." Shirasawa stated as we were walking through the snow. "It's the first time I've seen the work of a Mushishi. There's just one person left. A person who's affected in both ears." The old woman said. "He's my grandchild...." Ginko paused to look at the short woman. "There's something different about him compared to the others. Please don't tell the other villagers about his condition." Her breath came out in white puffs due to the cold.

When we got to her house, she gently opened the door before letting us in.

"This is Maho." Shirasawa gestured to the boy in the middle of the room. His hair and eyes were dark, and there were four little horns on his forehead. "Since last winter, he's been like this. Suddenly those horns grew...." She trailed off as Ginko inspected them. "And what he used to hear he could no longer hear, but he says he hears sounds that he's never heard before." The old woman stated as Ginko looked to be thinking.

"Even on silent nights like these, he says that there are sounds inside and outside the house. Sounds that whisper, sounds that roar. Even when he covers his ears, and we close the gaps, it doesn't change. He says that sound enters from the horns...." Ginko wasn't saying anything as he looked at the boy closely, then pulled out the scroll from before.

"It's a Mushi that coordinates with the Un. It eats the silence that Un leave. When this attaches to you, you can't hear the sounds around you because it devours all of them. But....compared to the Un, it's very low in numbers." He looked to the old woman. "There's only one case of treatment that's been told of. According to it, even when pouring salt water into the ear, the Ah didn't leave. And even after trying different types of medicines, nothing worked. At the end of the next winter.... In the sound that flooded her night and day, her spirit tired. And eventually, she weakened and died."

"The end of next winter...." The old woman looked mortified as she covered her mouth. Ginko opened the very bottom drawer to the thing he always carried on his back and pulled a large cut of cloth out.

"No matter what, it's better to find out about the opponent." He stated before hanging the cloth over an area around the boy and set out plates. One each plate he piled what looked like ash onto them before burning it and filling the small space with smoke around the boy.

I was fine at first, but had to sit outside of the area with smoke. If I had been in the smoke with Maho and Ginko, I would have passed out and slept for hours until the smoke was out of my system. (This was something we learned the first time I had sat with Ginko in the smoke.)

"Can you hear my voice?"

"Yeah." The boy replied. "The sound around me became a little quiet. After you came, the sound had gotten worse. I thought my head would explode."

"I'm sorry about that. It seems that I'm the type that attracts Mushi. Aren't the Mushi noisy? I drove them away with this smoke."

"Mushi?" The boy looked around. "These sounds are?"

"Probably, at least most of them are." Ginko held out his cigarette since he was burning the same stuff that was in it. "Humans have the worst hearing of all animals. Most other animals can differentiate between a variety of sounds. But, there apparently is a stratum of sound that not even animals can hear. That's the stratum of Mushi voices." He explained.

"They talk this loud?"

"They don't. Each voice is probably small.... But when there are more Mushi than can be counted.... What happens if each one says one thing? That becomes extremely loud and echoes all around the world. The Mushi called Ah, living in your ear, is eating your silence.... Then those horns grew, and are drawing in the sound of that stratum." Blinking a few times, I was trying to focus, but something was making my body feel heavy and it was kind of difficult to keep my eyes open. "That's probably what's going on. I didn't see anything wrong with your ears. How did those horns grow?" ....Was Ginko's voice always this soothing?

"I was covering my ears." Maho answered and my head jerked up. "Last winter, since my mother died.... Mom was always doing that, so I remembered it and copied her. And then....my forehead swelled and the horns grew." Why was I so exhausted? I knew I had plenty of rest the night before, but it felt like I hadn't slept in days. It wasn't the smoke, was it? No, Ginko had that contained with the cloth.

"She was covering her ears? Why was your mother doing that?"

"I don't know. I can't remember.... My mom had the same illness as I, where she grew horns. Even if she covered her ears, she wouldn't have been able to escape the sound. That time, Mom said something...." The boy said. "With her weakened hands she strongly covered my ears. But....I can't remember what she said then. Although I should be able to remember.... Every time I try to, because sound keeps rushing into my head, I can't hear it." And Maho began to sniffle and rub his eyes.

"I see." Ginko said lowly and sleep finally won the battle as I fell over and started snoring.

~

"I guess you'll have to sit further away." I heard Ginko's voice as I sat up.

"Huh?" I groggily looked at the white haired man and saw him just sitting there.

"That cloth is breathable." He stated as I ran a hand through my hair. "Smoke was leaking out and you breathed it in. It happened slowly, so I assume that's why you didn't notice."

"That stuff is as helpful as it is pesky." I sighed while rubbing my temples.

"It's only pesky to Mushi and you." Ginko smirked. "Come, there's breakfast waiting for you." The man rose to his feet while sticking his hands into his pockets. "Don't forget to cover your ears." He added and I glanced around for the headscarf to hide my hair and ears with.

~

"Koga, how's your nose in the snow?" Ginko asked.

"Sub-par." I replied. "Why?"

"Maho's still gone and it's snowing." He answered calmly while grabbing his coat.

"If it's quiet, I might be able to hear him instead." Getting to my feet, I picked up my scarf.

"Oh, Ginko-san, I can't find Maho." Shirasawa came in while looking rather worried as the white haired man was slipping on his coat.

"Don't worry. I saw which way he went."

"What?" She questioned as I wrapped the scarf around my neck and pulled on a coat. "Why did you let him go?"

"We're going to go search for him." Ginko droned as we walked outside. I could see my breath forming little clouds in front of my face, and I waited until we were out of sight of the house before reaching up. Unwrapping the headscarf, my hair freely fell over my shoulders as my ears perked. Turning my head in different directions, I tested what I could hear. There was Ginko's soft breathing, snow crunching under our feet, and a lump of snow falling from a tree in the distance.

Following Maho's tracks until they were covered with snow, I walked a few steps ahead of Ginko. My ears were twitching as my tail swayed, and I kept my nose to the air in case I could catch the boy's scent. It mostly smelt like ice and cold tree bark, and I remembered that old woman mentioning how they didn't get wind.... Without wind, this was going to be much harder to catch a scent trail, but I at least still had my hearing and sight.

"It's quiet." Ginko mumbled as his feet crunched.

"But it's not totally silent." I said softly. "If you listen closely....you can hear the snow pile up. If it were completely silent, even you could hear a heartbeat." Looking to the right, my ears twitched as I listened.

"Can you hear heartbeats?" Ginko questioned.

"....Only if I'm standing right next to the person. It's faint, like a soft pat on a drum, but with the headscarf I can't hear it." I replied. The man suddenly paused as he walked, and I glanced back to see that thinking expression on his face. His eyes then lit up as if he had an epiphany, and I looked back into the forest. Narrowing my eyes, I saw a pale light and waved my hand to the pale haired man.

"This way." I stepped forward, leading the way towards the light. Stepping through the snow, I found a cave hidden among the trees and the light was coming from inside. It was strangely quiet inside, but I continued forward until I saw Maho sitting by a fire.

"I'm sorry." The boy said after looking up. Ginko stood next to me, and Maho glanced between us before staring at my ears and hair. "I was going to go home, but it started snowing on the way back." He then dropped his gaze while hugging his knees to his chest even tighter. "So I decided to wait here until it stops. But....it kept on getting stronger...." I saw his lips continue moving, but his voice had drowned out into silence. Furrowing my brows, I then realized I couldn't hear the fire either.

Ginko nudged my arm with his elbow and I looked to him, seeing him gazing up at the ceiling of the cave. Following his line of sight, my eye twitched from seeing hundreds of Un dangling from the ceiling as they squirmed. Suddenly, they all made for Ginko and the white haired male just stood there calmly while smirking. His lips moved as if he was talking, but I heard nothing as the Un were eating the sound.

Waving my hands by the sides of his head, I shooed off the Mushi as Ginko nonchalantly reached up and plucked a darker green swirl from the sea of bright green ones. Pulling off his scarf that was over his head, he let the Ah infect his ears and I looked at him like he was insane.

Ginko crouched while twisting his pinkies in his ears, acting as if a Mushi didn't just invade his head before he looked to Maho. I couldn't hear anything, but I saw Ginko gesturing with his hands as his lips were forming words. Maho raised his own hands before covering the man's ears, and I cringed as green goop exploded from Ginko's ears. _'Aw, so gross....'_

Maho was looking at his hands as they were covered in the green, glowing goo, and I made sure he wiped it off in the snow before we took him home. I could hear again when we left the cave, and Maho's little feet were kicking up snow from how he had to move his legs in the deep, white powder. His nose and cheeks were pink from the cold, and he was breathing on his hands to keep them warm.

Without saying anything, I picked him up and held him to my body to share the warmth I naturally gave off. Maho looked at me a bit confused at first, but understood when he leaned against me and but his hands to his chest to keep them warm. Maho's soft breathing filled my ears as my footprints became deeper from the added weight, and my tail was swaying as I followed Ginko back to the village.

When the Ah in the boy's ears was killed, his horns just dropped from his head and it looked as if they had never been there at all....

"So I'll take this as my payment." Ginko stated as he held a box with the horns in it. We were outside, ready to leave as the bright sun provided some heat.

"Are you sure that's alright?" Shirasawa asked.

"Yes, it is."

"You're okay with it, Maho?"

"Mm." He nodded, and the Mushishi held out his hand to the boy. "Huh?" The boy looked up with a questioning gaze as Ginko dropped the smaller set of horns into his hands.

"Isn't the world quiet, Maho? It will probably be unsettling until you get used to it.... And you'll probably miss the world you left. But, once spring comes and it gets lively, you'll forget it." Ginko softly smiled.

"I won't forget it. I was listening to the same sound as Mom did. It was an extremely....beautiful sound."


	4. Chapter 4

"It hasn't even been a year since then...." Ginko mumbled as he looked around. The village in front of us looked abandoned and decayed, not looking like anything Ginko had told me about. "What's the meaning of this?" He questioned. We were here to check up on someone Ginko had helped before, and I followed him through the dirt road overgrown with grass.

There was no sign of people and it looked as if no one had been here for years, but Ginko said it had yet to be a full year since he was last here.... So what was going on?

Walking up to a house, the green eyed man opened the door and I peeked around his shoulder. It was a bit dark inside, but there was a weary man sitting there and it was dark around his eyes from the lack of sleep.

"So you've come." He spoke up while looking to the door. "Mushishi. I've been waiting for you. I have something to ask you."

"Are you alone?" Ginko asked after he glanced around. "This village.... Could it...."

"Yeah. That's right. I'll tell you everything." The man dropped his gaze as we entered the house and I carefully listened to his story. He started off by telling of a dream of a water vein, then continued on to how the people in the village came to him due to his prophetic dreams.

As his dreams progressed, however, he began to fear them and took the medicine Ginko had given him in secret. But then a wave destroyed the beach and many people had been there, including his daughter, so he stopped taking the medicine. The contents of his dreams began to become more vivid as they came more often.

"Then one day....I had a horrible dream. It was too terrifying for me to believe, so I wrote it off as nothing. And the next day....my wife was the first to go." His voice was distant and tired as he spoke. "It was the illness I had dreamt about. From the fingers, a green mold grew and spread over the entire body and broke them down like mud. And I was left alone in the village." My tail twitched as the man looked to the Mushishi. "You said your name was Ginko, right? When that dream came true, I realized it. That you lied to me back then."

Glancing to Ginko from the corner of my eyes, he was just sitting there calmly as he was listening to the man.

"What's inside me aren't Mushi that give me prophetic dreams....but Mushi that bring dreams into reality and that are infectious. That green sickness.... The ones closer to me got it first. My wife, my neighbors, the houses across the way, and....the same scene that was in my dreams was created. All the things that I have foreseen up to now, were what my dreams made. Isn't that true?" The man balled his hands into fists. "Then why did you tell me that lie?!"

"....It's because you can never be rid of this Mushi." Ginko quietly said. "Once you get it, it lives with you for the rest of your life. The only option is to control it. But, once the host knows the nature of the Mushi....they aren't able to bear the weight of their dreams."

"Right.... Then I should have just died!" The man rose his voice as he stood. "Why did you let this seed of destruction live?" He grabbed the front of Ginko's shirt. "Why?!" He shouted before falling to his knees as he cried.

"I'm sorry. Now that this has happened, I'll do everything I can to rid you of the Mushi. Please live."

~

"Imeno no Awai, they live in the dreams of their host and, at times, they come out of the dreams." Ginko was saying as he pointed to a drawing and description of the Mushi. It looked like a little ball with four feather-like appendages, and I listened closely. "At that time, they become the medium that brings dreams to reality. In other words....they don't make all your dreams prophetic. But as they grow in numbers, the times they come out of your dreams also increase."

The man sat across from us, his elbows on his knees as his fingers were laced over his mouth. He had a serious expression on his face, and the candlelight made his already gaunt appearance look more haggard.

"And the size and range that they can make real, gets greater too. But, the Mushi themselves disappear when sunlight touches them. They're very weak. I don't know why these came out to this world. But, somewhere there's a road that is just for the Mushi. They say that while the host is awake, the Mushi sleep there. If I can find that place, I may be able to do something." Ginko said while looking down at the scroll.

After that, the man left us as the Mushishi and I began to search through some of his books for answers. There were things I came across that I didn't understand in one of the books, but I ignored those parts if they didn't have to do with the Imeno no Awai. Ginko sighed as he turned a page, looking to be thinking.

"What's wrong?" I asked in a low voice.

"I know what I said, but I haven't heard about a case that had such speed and scale as this. It can't be held back by the medicine. However, if the dosage were to increase...." He trailed off while his eyes were still going over the book in front of him. My head suddenly whipped to the side as my ears perked and I sat up straight. "What is it?" Ginko asked.

"That man is coughing, but he's not in his room." I mumbled, and then Ginko was on his feet as he ran.

"Oi!" I heard him shout and I quickly got up. "Did you take all the medicine?" He frantically asked the man while holding up bits of paper. The man was on his knees, panting as he leaned his head on his arm. "Hang in there! I'll get you an antidote!"

"Don't bother!" The man angrily said. "No more.... I can't live anymore." Tears were welling in his eyes before he hit the floor.

"Koga, help me get him back to his room!" Ginko grabbed one of the man's arms and pulled it over his shoulder. Following his lead, we managed to get the man back to bed. "Go get some water." The Mushishi told me as he went to his things and began to take out what looked like herbs from the drawers.

Hurrying outside, I found a bucket and a well and filled the bucket with water before bringing it back inside while trying not to spill any. The white haired male was working quickly to grind up the strange plants, and from how relaxed he looked after everything, the man had gotten the antidote in time.

"....Forgive me...." My tail twitched when I heard him talking in his sleep. He was still breathing heavily, but not nearly as bad as earlier.

"You're not at fault. And the Mushi are innocent too. Both of you were just living your lives." Ginko muttered. "Neither of you are at fault." His face was solemn as he looked at the man. "Don't die. You did nothing wrong."

Sitting next to Ginko, I didn't say anything, but I rested my elbow on my raised knee while setting my chin onto my arm. I had seen many things since leaving with the green eyed man, and as he had warned me before, there will be times such as these that aren't as happy to remember.

"....Are those geese....?"

"So it is sleep talk." Ginko scratched his forehead. "This is useless. Where are you? Hurry and come back."

"....I'm in the fields at the foot of the hill...." The man answered and not but a few seconds after he did, I yelped while covering my ears as much as I could from the loud ringing. As the noise faded, something else took it's place that sounded like....geese?

"Koga, look." Obeying, I raised my head and my eyes went wide as my hands dropped from my ears. On the screen by the man's head, what looked like a field and a sunset sky showed as something was flocking in the skies. "This is.... That looks like a flock of geese to him?"

"It sounds like it. Or gulls." I tilted my head while watching the Mushi flap their feather-like limbs like they were wings.

"These are all flocks of Imeno no Awai." He stated, and I couldn't even count how many there where. There had to be hundreds of them, thousands maybe, going across the scene's sky like waves. Watching the man's dream through the screen, we saw him meet his family again before he found himself sleeping. As he neared himself, there was a fire on the screen and it jumped to his pillow. Quickly looking to the real version of the man, I jumped to my feet as fire was actually on his pillow and spreading to his bed.

Ginko was quick to act, picking up the man before kicking the sliding door to outside down. He laid the man on the ground and I jumped over the burning bed to follow.

"Wake up! Koga, help me get water!" And I rushed off towards the well. Ginko's footsteps were following behind me, and it was when I was reeling the bucket in the well in that the Mushishi ran back to the house. He must have gotten a bad feeling from the look on his face, but I didn't stop getting the water from the well because of the fire.

When I returned, the house was ablaze and Ginko was dragging the man from the house again. Quickly looking around, I saw that everything was still in the house and all the books and scrolls Ginko had on Mushi was going to be burned. Hopping from one foot to the other, I was trying to figure out a way to get it out, but I was wasting time as the fire in the man's room hit the roof.

Dumping the bucket of water over my head, I grabbed my soaked headscarf and covered my mouth to protect my lungs from the smoke while my wet clothes were less likely to burn.

"Koga!"

Quickly dashing into the house where there were less flames, my tail helped me make sharp turns as I made my way through the house. Slinging that box with straps onto my shoulder, I frantically scooped up the left out books before making my way back through the house. My ears twitched as I heard creaking and I managed to jump over the beam that fell in front of me.

~

"Looks like the immediate treatment was good." The doctor smiled as he washed his hands in a bowl of water. "He'll make it somehow." The old man then left the room as Ginko walked over to the window and sat down, sighing as he held his head.

"Did you know this would happen?" A weak voice spoke up as Ginko pulled out a cigarette. "All I did was cut the pillow...." Looking over to the man covered in bandages, he was just laying there, staring at the ceiling with a grim expression.

"Did you know that the origins of the word pillow, is the store room of the soul? It's the place where you rest your head for a third of your life. It was probably thought that that's the place where the soul would rest. And that was the Imeno no Awai's nest, the pathway connecting dreams and reality." Ginko said softly. "I thought that if you cut it, you were the one to lose something."

~

Leaving, it was as we were walking into the forest that the white haired man stopped me. He paused in the middle of the path as smoke rose from his mouth, and he slowly turned on his heel to look back at me.

"Show me your tail." Ginko blankly looked at me as he pulled the cigarette from his lips.

"Why?"

"Because you've been trying to hide it. Usually it's all over the place, but you've been hiding it behind your back." He stated. Chewing the inside of my cheek, I hesitantly turned around while covering my face with my hands. I heard him heavily sigh before the box on his back tapped onto the ground. "So even if other's can't see it, it still has physical form." He mumbled. "Why didn't you tell me you got burned?"

I jolted when I felt him grab my tail, and he was careful not to touch the part bare of fur and covered in blisters. Looking over my shoulder, I saw him digging through a drawer for something with his other hand.

"Because I expected as much to happen when I ran into a burning building." I mumbled.

"If it can get burned, it could possibly get infected as well." Ginko replied with his cigarette between his lips as he held a vial in his hand before he pulled out some bandages from another drawer. "I don't know what your metabolism or healing process is like, so I'm going to treat this as a normal burn and go from there. I'll check it again later to see if this is at least working." He gestured to the vial.

Looking away, I crossed my arms before I tensed, feeling something being rubbed onto the burn. Clenching my jaw, the searing pain soon turned to a cool, soothing feeling before Ginko wrapped the bandage over it. Letting out the breath I had been holding, I felt relief from the pain in the burn subsiding.

After that, they say the man inflicted by the Imeno no Amei began working as a sword smith again. He was skilled and many sought him. But for some reason, gradually, he lost his soul. He would go out to the road and swing his sword. In the end, he stabbed himself. People said that man was afraid of sleeping. That when he slept, his soul would slide away somewhere. They say that man never dreamt after that day he cut his pillow....


	5. Chapter 5

"Mushi that eat silence. So these are the horns that grow when an Ah lives in you?" A man was saying as he was looking at Maho's horns. "I see.... These are rare." The man jolted when I hopped onto his porch and I excitedly dropped some flowers and shells in front of Ginko.

"Ginko! Look at this stuff!" He glanced down at it as I fanned the shells out from the pile. "There's tons of these on the beach."

"Who are you?" I looked back at the man with a monocle on his right eye. He was looking at me with shock and curiosity.

"This is Koga. She's a half-Mushi I picked up a few months back."

"Half-Mushi?!" The man set Maho's horns down before he came over to me. "She looks pretty normal to me...."

"I have a tail you can't see." I stated while crossing my legs. "Ah, and there's this that you can see." Taking off my headscarf, the man's eyes went wide as he looked at my pointed ears and bright red hair.

"Oh, my!" And he seamed extremely excited as he looked me over. "What would you say to living with me? I collect a variety of Mushi artifacts, so if you're interested in those things, you can look at them." There was a silent pause as Ginko and I just looked at him.

"....Want some shells instead?" I asked.

"What's that?" His attention then went to something in Ginko's hands.

"This is a sakazuki that was drawn by the boy with God's left hand."

"Ah, you mean that kid that drew things and they came to life?" I asked while looking down at the green cup. It was as vibrant as jade, and it didn't look like a drawing, but more like something crafted with delicate hands. Ginko nodded to answer me.

"What?" And the man looked skeptical as he put his hands into his sleeves. "That kid would never trust a Mushishi. Come up with a better lie, Ginko." The white haired man smirked while I began to sort the shells by type.

"Now, now....I don't have to sell this to you, Adashino-sensei." Ginko held up the sake cup. "It's too good to be sold to a collector."

"Well....let me take a closer look at it." The man eyed the cup and it looked like Ginko was playing with him.

"I'll sell it to you, but I want to ask you for a favor. While we were heading here, we met a strange thing." My ears perked as he spoke. 'Is he talking about the swamp?' I wondered. "I want to capture it."

"A strange thing?"

"Yeah. Have you ever heard about the dying form of liquid Mushi? It's a living swamp. When we were passing through the mountains....we often saw ponds. But, when we would detour and look back at it from the hillside....it would always disappear without leaving a trace. And after passing another mountain, another swamp would be awaiting us."

"Don't forget about the girl." I whispered.

"Right. And there was a girl. For a second, I doubted my eyes. Her hair was extremely green.... It looked as if it had been dyed to the roots with the swamp's water."

~

"Um.... Is there something in that direction?" The girl in the water pointed. Her voice was soft, and my tail swayed as I looked back at her.

"Then, can I ask you a question too?" Ginko questioned. "This isn't a normal swamp, is it?"

Building a fire by the water when it got dark, The green haired girl sat across from us as she spoke.

"The swamp is traveling. While seeping in and out of the ground several times....just like you, it seems to be trying to pass this mountain." She said.

"Wow, that's amazing." Ginko rested his chin on his knuckles while looking to the girl. "A living swamp. So, you're traveling with it? Why?" She didn't say anything, and the green eyed man dropped his hand while bringing his cigarette to his lips. "Anyways, if you continue straight this way, you'll reach the sea. It's the fishing village I'm heading for. When you reach the sea, you won't be able to follow the swamp anymore." Her eyes widened a fraction as she turned to Ginko.

"By the way, I want to test the swamp's water tomorrow...." Ginko trailed off while looking at a glass bottle full of the green water he had collected.

"Go ahead."

"It's too dark right now. It looks like a new type."

"I thought you wouldn't believe me....that the swamp is traveling."

"Well, due to the nature of my work, I accept all sorts of things." Ginko replied. "Have you gotten a good look at Koga, for example?"

"Work?" She questioned while glancing to me.

"I'm called a Mushishi. All phenomena that Mushi cause are strange. For example, the Suiko, are Mushi that are liquid in form. It's liquid with no form or color, but it's alive. It likes to live in wells attached to old waterways. It often stays in ponds and wells." Ginko explained after putting away the bottle. "If you accidentally continue drinking the Suiko....you won't be able to breath unless you're in water....and your body starts to go transparent. If you leave it like that, you liquefy and melt away."

Looking to the swamp, I made a mental note not to drink from it....

"Things like that exist, so I can believe that swamps travel. What about you? Don't you think it's strange?"

"I.... I've never been afraid of it." The girl calmly said. "Since the first time I saw it....it was overpowering and godly."

"Powerful?" My brows furrowed.

"What was it like?" Ginko asked.

"It was swimming. At the base of the overflowing river. I was taken in by the flow and couldn't pull myself out. And there....a large green thing....came up from the raging water at the bottom. When I realized it, I was at a swamp in between the mountains. I realized....that the swamp was only pretending to be a swamp temporarily....but it was actually the green thing that I saw in the river. By that time, my hair was already this color." She grabbed some of her hair while looking at it. "I've probably died once. But the swamp told me it's okay to live. That's why this swamp is the only place for me to be."

My ear twitched when a fly flew by, and the sound of the crackling fire accompanied the girl's soft voice. Going to sleep that night, we just let the fire naturally die out.

Waking up, however, I heard the flow of rushing water and sat up while rubbing my eyes. Glancing around, my eyes widened to see the swamp draining through a hole in the ground.

"It's going to dive into the ground." Looking to my side, I saw Ginko awake as well before he got up and quickly looked around for the girl. "Hey, are you going already?" He called. "Make it wait. I want to examine it."

"Thank you for telling me the truth." The girl softly said, wearing a red kimono with flowers as she stood in the swamp. "I'm going to become part of this swamp." She turned away, a sorrowful look on her face before she dove into the water, letting the flow take her away.

"Wait! Hey!" Ginko shouted as he followed the disappearing water, but he was too late as the girl was already gone. "Shit." He said lowly while going to his knees. "Why didn't I realize it? That was the dying form of the Suiko." He began to mumble as I stood and walked over to him, transparent plants bursting into water as I stepped on them. "After the Suiko disappeared from the well, it traveled on its own. How stupid.... Does she know what that means?"

"Ginko...." I placed a hand gently onto his shoulder. "That girl...."

"I know." He said lowly.

~

"A swamp that heads to the sea."

"Do you know something about it?" Ginko asked Adashino.

"I've heard from an old fisherman. Apparently, there was something green, larger than a whale, that flowed from the river....and when it gets to the ocean, it breaks apart as if it's dying. He's never actually seen it, but it comes as if it's searching for a place to die. Anyways....shall we hurry?" The man rose to his feet as I finished sorting the shells. "Since the fishermen aren't excited, it probably hasn't made it to the sea yet."

My tail twitched as Ginko rose to follow the man, and I hopped to my feet to go after the two.

"Here it is." Adashino said while holding up a map. "This is a map of the local underground waterways. It's a rare piece." He handed it to Ginko to look at it, and I peeked over the edge of the paper as he sat on some stairs. "It's something they made by using a pendulum."

"I hope it's accurate."

"To test it, they dug wells and it was about fifty percent accurate."

"The places where we saw the swamp and this waterway match." The green eyed man said as his finger followed the faint lines on the map. "So the Suiko does travel using the underground waterway."

"But it breaks into two here." I added and Ginko covered his mouth while getting that face he made when he was thinking.

"I can't tell which path it took...."

"Oi, Ginko. I have a map like this too. A map of what they thought the rivers would be like from a couple hundred years ago. That river still exists, but ran a pretty different path. It's interesting." Adashino said.

"Hey, I don't have time to listen to you brag about your collection." Ginko looked back at the other man. "Huh?" And he suddenly got up with a candle and went up the stairs. "Can I see it?"

"It matches up." Adashino mumbled as the Mushishi held the maps together over the candle. "What does it mean?"

"This waterway was originally a river....but the river is no longer, and what's left is a stream under the rocks. Rainwater flows into places like that." Ginko began. "Even if the river is covered up, it becomes a waterway that runs in the ground. That swamp remembers the old river, and may be following it."

"It's heading to the place of its death? It's almost like salmon and ayu."

"How are you so fucking smart?" I popped off while looking over the Mushishi's shoulder, and the collector looked at me with shock from my foul language. Ginko was used to it by now and pointed to the map while smirking.

"Eventually, it should be headed to this area." He then looked to the other man. "Adashino! Could you gather some people? I'm going to put up a net around this area."

~

"Sorry, everyone. Was it really alright?"

"No worries." A guy from the nearest boat replied. "Lately, the fishermen have nothing to do. There's no fish in the sea right now."

"And it's you asking us, Adashino-sensei." Another man added.

"It's good to be a doctor." Ginko popped off as he sat on a rock.

"More like my virtuous nature." The man held his chin and I gave him a skeptical look. Afterwards, we waited hours and well into the night for the Suiko to show up. "But Ginko, you don't know if the girl is still in a state where she could be caught with this net, right?"

"Yeah. But it's all that I have."

"But why do you want to save her?" Adashino asked. "I'm sure it's just part of your nature, but....I understand if she told you that she wants to live. But she said that she wanted to become part of the swamp. These days, although cruel, there are situations where that may be her happiness."

"That green sakazuki...."

"Huh?"

"That was originally the boy's grandmother's. For her, who was no longer human nor a full Mushi, to appear in front of the boy's eyes....she would have to bring back the sakazuki, which was given to her by the Mushi. If she did that, she wouldn't be able to return as a human, but I made her a Mushi because it was her will." Ginko looked up. "But I don't know if that was the right thing to do. To go to the Mushi side isn't the same as dying normally. A Mushi is something that's between life and death."

My tail swayed as I glanced to Ginko, seeing the look on his face as he spoke.

"It's something that's human and an object at the same time. It's something like living as you die. Don't you think it's much harsher than experiencing death in one moment? Slowly, the human soul breaks when it's heading to a place like that.... When I last saw her....she was wearing her precious wedding day kimono. There's nothing more tragic than that."

"It's coming!!" I heard shouting further up the bank and a bell being stricken before the water in the river reared to life.

"Kill it! It's going to break the net!" A man on a boat raised a spear and Ginko rushed into the water.

"Don't shoot! There's a person inside!" He shouted and the people on shore rushed to grab the ropes on the net to hold it in place. Helping them, I dug my feet into the sand while pulling as the Suiko forced its way through the net. It only took but a few seconds to pass, but once it was gone, the villagers were murmuring about someone in a red kimono and the girl wasn't in the net....

When Ginko came out of the water, he was holding the girl's kimono and was soaked to the bone. Closing his eyes, he shook the water from his short hair before looking down at the garment in his hand.

Swallowing, I had to keep a straight face while looking at the green eyed man because his white shirt was transparent and his wet pants clung to his legs. Clearing my throat, I threw a towel at him as I turned on my heel.

"Dry off before you get sick." I said over my shoulder while feeling the tips of my ears getting hot.

A while after, the girl was found, caught in a net with fish and hardly human. She was soft and see-through, having no color and looking like a blob of water in the shape of a person. It took some time, but the girl regained her color and no longer had green hair.

"Koga! She's awake!" Ginko called while sticking his head outside and I popped up from the tall grass.

"Ask if she likes flowers!" I said while raising my arms that were full of wild flowers I had found around the village. The white haired man chuckled before ducking his head back inside. A few second later, his hand appeared as he gave a thumbs-up and I smiled while bringing the nice smelling plants to the girl.

~

"....It's another swamp." Ginko stated and I looked over his shoulder to see. The man was glancing to the side, looking over the mountain through the trees. "One, two, three, four...." He counted as his shoulders slumped. "It was coming above ground as it was moving....to leave its children."

"Do you think they'll need a nanny?" I joked, and Ginko just gave me a look. I just grinned back at him as he sighed.

A swamp is born, and later becomes stagnant. Then when the universe that they populated ends....they get up on their own feet and begin to move.


	6. Chapter 6

The sun will rise and set today. The flower that blooms in the morning wilts at night. The sun will set today and rise again. Flowers all around will bloom. But they are different flowers from yesterday.

"Oi, are we there yet?" Ginko asked as seagulls called from overhead. The boat was rocking on the water and I was sprawled out on the bottom of the boat as my tail swayed like a cat's.

"We're almost there. Um....since you were introduced by a doctor, that makes you one too, right?" The teenager guiding the boat asked.

"Nope. I'm a Mushishi." The boy made a face and Ginko sat up. "Don't be surprised. From what I heard, it's definitely something I deal with." He said, referring to what we had heard about the island we were headed to.

"I'm sorry. It's the first time I've heard of it, so...." The boy's voice trailed off as he looked to me. "Are you also a Mushishi?"

"I work with him." I pointed to the white haired man with my thumb. "I'm more of an assistant than a Mushishi."

"Oh, there it is!" The boy said and I sat up to look. It was like a chunk of land just dropped into the salty water, and I nearly snorted when I saw Ginko with the blanket on his head.

"Oi, Ginko." I called, getting his attention. "You look like a granny." Chuckling as he narrowed his eyes at me, he pulled the blanket from his head before blowing some of the Mushi smoke into my face. "Cheater...." My voice trailed off as I passed out.

When I came to, the white haired man was patting my cheek.

"Come on, Koga, we're here." I groaned while scrunching up my nose.

"Five more minutes."

"It was only a little bit of smoke this time, get up." Ginko droned, but I didn't want to get up. "Koga, the boat's sinking!" He hurriedly said and I shot up as the boat rocked and he was splashing water at me.

"One of these days I'm going to let you see what it's like to get knocked out." I shot the smirking man a look while wiping my face off with my sleeve.

~

"There's only rocks." Ginko stated as we followed the boy up from where the boat was.

"Yeah. It's a poor island with very little land. We all live somehow. With the Living God for moral support."

"The Living God?"

"There's people! Quick, hide!" The boy hid behind a rock and I could hardly hear a woman speaking to a crying child.

"I'm sorry, you can't eat this. This is to give to the Living God. We're going to ask her to cure your illness." The mother said. "Here, let me carry you. You'll feel better soon."

"Hey why do we have to hide."

"I want you to examine that Living God." The boy stated.

"Huh?"

"She was just a normal girl!" He turned to Ginko while remaining quiet. "Please, save her! Everyone's just being tricked." The boy told us before waiting for nightfall to take us to her. "It's her." He whispered, pointing to a girl through the window.

She had long, black hair and eyes that looked as vacant as a doll's. She was contently eating a rice ball as she sat on many pillows and villagers were spilling into the room while presenting her food and gifts.

"The guy next to her is her father and the lord of this house. A miracle happens to her body everyday. Today is the day that the believers are allowed to pay their respects." The boy said lowly and I had to take in a slow breath when I saw her father looking over the people with the same look of greed I had seen on my father's face.

She suddenly stopped eating as her soft smile fell. As if time were sped up, the girl's hair went white as her skin turned grey and wrinkled. Within a matter of seconds, she looked like an old woman and dropped the riceball as she fell over. She was ushered into a bed as the people surrounded her and my eyes went wide.

"Her breathing has stopped completely." It was declared before a puff of purple dust escaped her nose.

"Did you see that?" Ginko leaned forward.

"What?" The boy sounded confused.

"You can't see it?"

"I did. Mushi." Mumbling, I watched as the girl's father was smiling and talking to the villagers.

"Now make sure you inhale that smell. It shall rid you of your illness and the pain of your soul. This is the eternal power of the Living God."

"After this, she returns to a normal state. By dawn, she wakes like nothing had happened." My tail swayed with irritation as the boy whispered and the girl's father had an all too familiar look on his face. "What's that?" The boy looked over his shoulder as my tail was smacking the grass behind us. Ginko subtly grabbed the end of my tail to get it to stop and I tensed. "We should go." The young male quietly rose to his feet before we followed.

"Do you-"

"Tell me to sit this one out and I'll fucking bite you." I said lowly while flashing my teeth. "No person would want to be used like that to gain profit for someone else. I'm helping." I kept my voice quiet enough that the boy ahead of us couldn't hear me.

"I was only-" And the look I gave him cut him off as he sighed. "Mushi....so troublesome." He raised his shoulders.

"You're troublesome." I grumbled as Ginko turned his attention to the boy.

"It was just like we had been told. And with that, illnesses are cured?"

"Those are lies! My mom died without being saved. We gave most of our harvest to the Living God. The Living God religion was started by the master family of this island." The boy told us as he looked out over the water. They were the first to come to this island by reading the patterns of the tide. Since then, in each generation, someone from their family becomes the Living God. People started to gather at this island after hearing about those miracles. When one Living God dies, another one appears before half a year passes." He explained while taking us to a lone house on the edge of the island.

"As time passed, people with incurable illnesses claimed to be cured with that smell. I can't believe it. But...." He paused as his brows furrowed. "It was about a month since the last Living God passed away. I remember that it was a spring tide day like yesterday. And after that....she turned into a different person. A person who couldn't speak nor remember what had happened the day before." His hands clenched into fists at his sides. "After a while, I finally understood. They were just hypnotizing people and using her. I couldn't forgive them. So I left in search of someone that could save Akoya."

"I left the island swearing I would never come back. If they find out I am back, the leader will know something is up. Honestly, Ginko-san, you're not safe here." The boy said and Ginko covered his face.

"I've come to a troublesome place." The white haired man sighed.

"Please, I don't want to just wait here."

"Come on, Ginko, you helped me." I placed my hand on his shoulder. "I don't know Mushi stuff like you do, so if you want minimal part in this, that's all you have to do." He glanced at me from the corner of his eye while putting a cigarette between his lips. He then looked to the boy.

"Well, I'll help you. I'm also curious about this Mushi. Let me see her." Ginko said and later that night we snuck into Akoya's house and she just sat there like a puppet with its strings cut. The Mushishi grabbed her wrist, feeling her pulse with his fingers while I had to watch from the window.

Ginko didn't want me actually in the room in case the smell she gave off affected my more sensitive nose, so I remained outside. Glancing around, I made sure no one else was out here as the sun fell past the horizon. Looking back into the room, the girl was becoming an old lady again. When the moon rose, Ginko covered his face with a handkerchief while sitting the girl up in her bed. He asked the boy to hold the candle closer befer he inspected Akoya's nose.

"Excuse me for a moment." He droned. Tilting my head as I hung from the windowsill, my tail twitched when Ginko suddenly backed up and that dust came out of the girl's nose.

"What did you see?"

"It's caused by a Mushi living in the nose. But will she be cured just by removing it?" Ginko wondered. "Koga, have you ever dealt with something like this? Could you remove it?" He glanced at me while uncovering his face.

"I can only get rid of Mushi I can touch." I stated. "And I can't really get my hand up someone's nose unless they have huge nostrils."

"Is she the only one?" Ginko turned back to the boy that was fixing the blanket's on Akoya.

"There are a few others." He replied. "They've been isolated on that cape over there. They are all like Akoya. Every so often, people like that would appear. The leader of each generation allows them to live here while praising them as someone whose beliefs are so strong....that they've gotten closer to the Living God." And the next morning we were lead to the cape.

We had to climb over a wall, and on the other side it was so quiet.... There were people working and others looking like dolls as Akoya did.

"Their families are overjoyed that someone from their family has been released from all the pain." The younger male said as Ginko watched the people from a distance. He was observing their behavior, seeming to take mental notes of the common factors between them and Akoya before we examined them that night after they dropped where they were. There was no difference between them and the girl, so there weren't any clues on how to fix the problem.

~

"Say, you said that girl became like that during a spring tide?" Ginko asked as he laid on the rocks. I could hear the waves crashing into the island below, and the wind was rustling my clothes. "Is there a place where you can only enter when there's a spring tide?"

"The cave at the tip of the cape...."

"Could you take us there?"

"It's this way." The boy rose to his feet. "Over there." He pointed in the direction of the cave and Ginko went over to some rocks while looking around. "Are you looking for something?"

"There it is." The Mushishi reached out and picked up a shriveled rat by its head. "Look, he's been affected too. There should be others. Could you look around here?" The boy and I nodded and I took off the headscarf while tucking it into my pocket. "Their heartbeats are fast." Ginko added, giving me a tip on how to tell the difference between the infected rats and regular rat just sleeping.

Hopping onto some rocks, I tilted my head different ways to listen while sniffing around and my tail helped keep me balanced on the rocks as I searched. I had kicked off my shoes at one point to get better grip, and my pockets were full of rats by the time I returned to the Mushishi. The boy had only found two, but I had a few major advantages over him so no one could compare.

Ginko took the rats and began to use them to find ways to get the Mushi out, and I helped Nagi out in his garden so we'd have food. Days passed as the white haired man studied the rats and how his methods of extracting the Mushi were failing. If he could figure out why it wasn't working, he could figure out what did work.

One day, while Nagi and I were picking weeds from the garden, Ginko called out from the house below.

"Koga! Nagi!" Standing, we looked over the edge at the man smirking. "I found a way to treat it." As soon as it was possible, we snuck back into Akoya's house and the Mushi came out, looking like a purple spiral.

Once the girl came to, Nagi had to tell her everything that had happened since she had no memory of it. She listened carefully, but got this look in her eyes when the boy asked her to leave with him.

"It's three days until the next spring tide." Nagi stated. "Keep it a secret from the leader that you've been healed."

"But, I like this island." She lowered her gaze. "Father will probably be sorry for what he has done." Akoya said lowly and my eyes widened a fraction at her. Was she honestly that naive? Or did she ignore the things her father has done in the hopes that it will get better? "If I run, someone else will become the Living God."

"Just tell them how to escape this island's bad connection with Mushi." The cigarette between Ginko's lips bobbed as he spoke. "Do you remember the day you became the Living God?"

"That day....I was summoned by my father. He had picked me a beautiful flower and told me to smell it. It had a strong smell like a morning glory." She answered.

"A flower that has a strong scent similar to a morning glory?" Nagi said. "I saw that in the cape's cave. In the darkness, there were morning glories blooming. Was that why?"

"In three days...." Ginko mumbled. That would be our only chance to get in the cave because of the tide.

"We have to make sure that the leader doesn't notice. Until then, could you pretend to be the Living God?" The boy asked, and the girl nodded with a glum look in her eyes.

~

"In about half an hour, we should be able to enter." Nagi held up the lantern to see the cave. When we were finally able to go in, I covered my face with my headscarf in case the smell of the Mushi flowers were too strong for me. Nagi had said there was a lot, and I wanted to be careful. Following the boy through the tunnels, I saw that he wasn't exaggerating about how many flowers there were when we found them....

"Morning glories blooming in the darkness?" Ginko mumbled. "It's an incredible smell." He crouched down while Nagi covered his mouth and nose. "This is the Mushi's nest? It probably has a better chance of leaving offspring by attaching to animals." My ear suddenly perked when I heard shuffling feet and I made Nagi raise his lantern towards the sound.

"Ginko...." I spoke up, seeing other lanterns coming towards us.

"Huh?"

"People." I stated as the Mushishi rose to his feet and put his hands into his pockets.

"Nagi, what are you doing here?" It was Akoya's father that spoke first.

"How dare you!" The boy rose his voice.

"Stop! What do you plan on doing?" Ginko stopped Nagi from advancing. "Let them be, they won't last much longer anyway." He said with a serious look on his face. "If you keep on abusing Mushi, people will slowly lose their sanity. Eventually, you will all die out. You weren't fit to control Mushi." Ginko's voice remained calm the entire time as the other people were looking at him. 'You got a plan, Mushi Master, or am I gonna have to bite someone?' I thought while reaching towards my face just in case. "Well then Nagi, Koga....let's run!" And the man grabbed Nagi's arm while bolting.

Turning on my heel, I followed the bouncing lantern, but paused when my ears picked up Akoya's father's voice.

"Make sure their bodies don't float back." He ordered before running footsteps came from his direction. Glancing to Ginko and Nagi, their lantern disappeared behind a turn in the tunnel and I stopped while turning to face the men running towards me. They paused, looking confused as I stood there and they raised their lights to get a better look at me.

Perking my ears as I gave them an icy glare, I grabbed the headscarf over my face as their eyes were widening at my hair and ears.

"Want a taste of a Mushi's wrath?" I said lowly, making sure their attention was focused on me before I ripped the headscarf off and hissed. Baring my fangs as they glinted in the light of the lanterns, the men screamed and one threw his lantern at me as they ran away. The light hit the ground, going out after being covered in dirt, and I could smell piss fresh in the air. I guess one of them got a bit too scared....

Letting my eyes adjust to the dark, I hurried in the direction Ginko and Nagi went so that I could catch up to them. I yelped from the cold water that suddenly engulfed my leg, and I pulled back while looking ahead. Had they gone a different way? No, there was no other way to go- the tide was just rising.

Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself before going into the water and moving as quickly as possible to get to the others. The water was rising the further I went, and by the time I spotted a light, the salty water was up to my chest.

"Shit. If we're lucky, we have about 30 minutes, and we don't know where Koga is." I heard Ginko's voice and he jumped when I touched he shoulder.

"Mushishi....so troublesome." I sighed.

"How did you find us? Our way got blocked." Nagi questioned.

"I am soaked head to toe and you're going to ask me that? I may not know how to swim, but I can hold my breath to get through."

"You don't know how to swim, yet you still came in here?" Ginko looked at me like I was an idiot.

"Well, I can't just leave you. You know how boring it'd be without you?" I replied.

"Stay back, we're going to widen the hole!" My head jerked up as I heard a man shouting. There was a light high above us, and my hand dropped back into the water. Sighing, I pulled out my wet headscarf and wrapped up my soaked hair to cover it along with my ears before the villagers got to us.

When we got pulled out of the water and were leaving the cave, I got a cold chill as the wind blew by. My wet clothes caused goosebumps to form on my skin as a shiver ran up my spine, and I stood behind Ginko so that his body would block the wind.

"How nice of you, using the human as your shield." The Mushishi popped off.

"If there wasn't wind I'd be fine, but I'm freezing my tits off for once. Could we please hurry and go get some dry clothes?" I spoke lowly as I followed close behind him. Not being able to actually look at him since his clothes were soaked as well.

"Yeah, come on." He gestured with his head and we broke off from the others. Getting back to Nagi's house where the rest of our stuff was, I found some dry clothes and hurried to a room to change and get warmer.

Peeling off my shirt, the rest of my clothes followed as they flopped onto the floor. Picking up the new shirt, I slid my arms onto the sleeves as my tail swayed.

"Oi, Koga." I looked over my shoulder as Ginko's voice came from the other side of the door. "Nagi and I are going to go look for Akoya, she hasn't been found yet. Stay here, okay?"

"Be careful." I called out. "And don't provoke angry people to chase you again!"

"Yes, yes." The Mushishi droned as I pulled my shirt over my head and I heard his footsteps while he walked away.

They ended up finding the girl as she re-infected herself with the flower Mushi, and Ginko and I were stuck on the island for another month. While we were there, we treated the rest of the people on the cape, but a few of them were bound to sniff the flowers again like Akoya. It felt better that way, though, since they were doing it by choice to live their lives like that rather than it being forced on them.


	7. Chapter 7

Walking through the rain, I kept my arms in my coat while pulling the back of it up to cover my head. The road was muddy and full of puddles and my feet sloshed as I walked. Seeing a tree to take cover under, Ginko and I walked to it to wait out the rain.

"Excuse me." The white haired man droned.

"Sure." A man with a large hat droned.

"This sure is something."

"It sure is."

"You can't even see in front of you." Ginko said while taking his coat off of his head. _'Old men talkin' about the weather....'_ I thought while listening to the two. The Mushishi set his things down next to the other man's stuff before pulling out a cigarette. The other man glanced at me as he smoked from his pipe and I shook my head as my coat fell back onto my shoulders.

"I wonder when it will stop." The man said out loud as Ginko leaned on the thick tree.

"It will be like this for another half hour." Another voice answered.

"Hm? Are you a merchant?" Ginko questioned, seeing the giant jar next to the guy sitting down. "If you have some food, could you sell it to me? All of ours has been damaged by the rain."

"That wonderful fucking bread....turned to mush!" I covered my face with my hand as I mumbled.

"There's nothing in it. And I'm not a merchant."

"Huh? Then what are you going to put in it? That's a huge pot." Ginko glanced at the man.

"That's for a body, bro." The guy with the pipe chuckled. "For a body."

"Huh? It's for a rainbow." The other man smiled. "I'm traveling to put a rainbow in this and take it home."

"I see." Ginko and the man with the pipe were looking at him.

"Wait....can you do that? Can he do that?" I glanced from the jar to Ginko. "Is this something I don't know about?"

"That's interesting. Tell me about why you're doing that. I'm bored anyway." The man with the pipe chuckled.

"Sure. That was....when I was still a kid." He began and I crouched down to sneak a closer look at the pot. I only knew things that the tutor my parents hired had taught me and what I learned from Ginko, so I had no clue if people made it possible to catch rainbows or not nowadays. Maybe this was a special pot? "As far back as I can remember.... When my father would sense even the slightest hint of rain, he would turn into a different person, happily running around the mountains and not coming back for days. He was a strange man." The guy continued his story as I curiously looked at the giant pot.

Touching the big jar, the clay it was made out of was cool beneath my palms, but nothing really seemed to stick out about it. Wiggling the lid off, I peeked inside before a hand grabbed the back of my coat and pulled me back.

"I'm sorry, please just think of her as a monkey. Her curiosity is the equivalent to one." Ginko looked down at me and out of defiance, I smacked his leg with my tail, making him lose his footing in the mud as he fell flat on his ass. The man with the pipe laughed along with me and I could see that Ginko was tempted to blow smoke in my face from the look in his eyes. However, that would mean he'd have to drag me around until I woke up, so he refrained from doing so.

"So you're going to capture a rainbow with your hands?" The man asked the other as Ginko got to his feet.

"I'll have to see it first."

"That's true. Ah, it's sprinkling now. I guess I'll go." The guy said while gathering his things. "The ending of that story was a little weak. Take care." He waved over his shoulder as he walked away.

"I guess I'll go, too." The man with the pot got to his feet.

"Hey, wait." Ginko spoke up. "If you're going to find that rainbow, you should go that way." He pointed.

"Huh?"

"That story was true, wasn't it? What your father saw was a Mushi called Kouda."

"What?" The dark haired man's eyes widened as the Mushishi stepped out from under the tree and I had to contain my laughter from seeing mud all over Ginko's butt.

"I've seen it once before, but I want to see its base. So if you want, I'll help you. Just pay for my food." The green eyed man stuffed his hands into his pockets while walking. "Oh, and sell that large jar. It won't be of any use." Ginko paused in the road as I caught up to him. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Maybe you should get that mud off your ass before you try to play cool." I chuckled and the Mushishi gave me a look before turning as much as he could to see his back side.

"Koga!" There was an edge in his usually calm voice before he went to the tree to rub the mud off and I just laughed while watching him.

~

"First off, you can only see a normal rainbow when you have your back to the sun." Ginko began after we got food at a vendor in a village. "But, a Kouda will appear without that. And, the way the colors line up are opposite." He said while chewing and I bit into the strange food on a stick. "If you don't start by seeing those differences, the search will be endless."

"Hey....Ginko, was it?"

"Hm?"

"Weren't you traveling with a purpose? Why are you helping someone that you passed by?"

"Like I said, I just want to see it too. We haven't been traveling for a real purpose. But, well, we can't search for the Kouda forever." Ginko said as we were crossing an arching bridge over a small river. "So if we don't find it by the beginning of fall, I'll leave. How's that?" He glanced to me and I shrugged to show that I didn't care. "It's probably the same as the rainbow in the way that it often appears after it rains. We need to travel by following the rain."

"I know a lot about that." The man behind me said. "It won't rain here for a while. Oh....that mountain has a cloud on it." He then pointed off into the distance. It should be raining around there tomorrow."

"I see."

"It's not like I've been walking around without direction." He said, feeling the look Ginko was giving him. He walked off and we followed, and it wasn't that long before it began to rain again. "There it is!"

"Nope, that's just a normal rainbow." Ginko stated and we walked on.

"That one!"

"That's not it either." I said, seeing that the colors were normal as it arched across the sky. And we spent days following the rain and seeing rainbows.

"I should've known that is we were trying to search for it, we wouldn't be able to find it." Ginko sighed as we were taking shelter in a cave from the heavy rain. I wanted to take a nap, but the Kouda could up and appear at any moment, so I'd have to wait until night to sleep. Instead, I just leaned on Ginko's back while boredly staring at the inside of the cave. "How long has it been since you started traveling?"

"It's been five years." The man replied.

"Five years...." Ginko let out a puff of smoke as he looked out into the rain. "Say, that story, how you're doing this to show your father is a lie, right?" He asked while shifting and I frowned while having to get comfortable again. "You wouldn't leave a sick family member for five years."

"It's not a lie that I want to show my father. But, that's not the main reason why. Have I told you my name?"

"Nope."

"My name's Kourou. It's a name that carries my father's will to search for the rainbow, forever. Because of my name, people laughed at me in the village. In a country to the west, there's a famous river that often overflows. My family has put a bridge on that river for generations. No matter how many times we put one up, whenever there's a flood, it gets washed away. Everyone had their hopes on my dad. But my brother was good at it. Every time it broke, he'd think of a stronger bridge. I didn't have any talent for it. After hurting my tendons in my left hand, it doesn't move much. I was worse than a second rate construction worker. Soon, the only place for me in that village was at my father's side. Not being able to stand it, I ran away."

"So, why is it then, that you're searching for the rainbow?" Ginko asked while letting out another puff of smoke.

"Every time I saw a rainbow, I couldn't help but chase it." Kourou answered. "I wanted to confirm my father's story too, but I also want to show to the villagers that laughed at us that this was the reason. But even after I left the village, I was just a loser. I needed a reason to live. I couldn't just live."

"So a 'purpose'."

"You said you're traveling without a purpose. I'm sure you have your reasons, but it's not easy to just travel. You can't just continue traveling without a purpose."

"There are times when I just want to take a break. At times like that, I make a purpose like this. That way I'll find a little leisure. After all, for those that are just living to live, there's no leisure."

"Sometimes I wonder what things you have stored in here." I mumbled while touching the back to Ginko's head.

"Keh. When I'm seriously doing this, you're doing this for fun?"

"Hey, I'm seriously doing it, too. It's about attitude. What? To live, it's also important to rest. And I think it's a better reason than yours." Dropping my hand as Ginko continued to talk, I went back to looking at the cave. "You're just searching for the rainbow to hide your guilty conscience. What a waste. You should have settled down somewhere and forgot about your past."

"I know." The man paused. "But because I can't do that, that's why I'm here. But it may be time to give up soon. I guess I'll only do this until fall." Kourou rose to his feet before walking into the rain.

"Huh? Oi! Wait! Hey!" And I fell back when Ginko got up to follow him.

~

"You have a good eye, sir." Ginko was saying to the man that was passing by. He had stopped to see the things the Mushishi had laid out, and I was laying in the grass in the shade of the tree to stay out of the heat. "Those are the nails of a mermaid. If you crush these and drink it, they work as a love potion. I'll give it to you cheap."

"Besides that, don't you have something to make it rain?" The man asked while wiping away the sweat under his hat.

"Of course he doesn't!" I groaned while rolling over. "If he did, he would have used it by now!"

"Oi, be sure to keep watching the sky." Ginko called out to the man sitting in the heat. "It should rain soon." And the white haired man turned back to his little shop set out on a sheet.

"Ginko! Koga! Look at that!"

"The sun is in the rainbow...." Bouncing to my feet, I saw Kourou bolting down the hill towards the Kouda and Ginko was rushing to gather up his stuff.

"Hey, what about that love potion?"

"Sorry, the shop is closed. Oi! Don't sprint so soon!" I followed the Mushishi after the brunette chasing the rain. We nearly reached the mountain it was on, but we were panting and sweaty from running in the heat when it disappeared.

"Damn it! Where did it go?"

"It should be around here. It looks like it will still rain around here. I don't think it would have gone that far. Let's wait here today." Ginko said while trying to catch his breath. Turning my back to them, I lifted the hem of my shirt to wipe the sweat from my face while letting the air hit my stomach and lower back.

Never had I been as sweaty as I was now, and I was dreaming of a nice bath or a good, cool rain to come. After wiping my face, I left my shirt half lifted while trying to cool down. Standing in the tall grass, I was close to just dropping and rolling away to the shade somewhere. Any other form of movement seemed too taxing at the moment.

"Koga, put your shirt back down." The Mushishi ordered.

"But it's hot!" I whined while letting my head fall back.

"You don't see me lifting my shirt."

"I don't see you with fucking breasts sweating on your chest either." I popped off. "Grow a pair, and then you can tell me to lower my damn shirt."

~

"Oi, wake up." Ginko shook my shoulder while his voice still sounded tired. Rubbing my eyes as I grumbled incoherently under my breath, I heard him yawn and I got to my feet as he was stretching out his limbs.

"It's raining!" Kourou jumped to his feet.

"It appeared." Ginko grabbed his stuff and dashed off towards the Kouda. Groaning as I rolled my eyes, I pulled myself to my feet and went after the two males. It was too early for this shit....

My eyes went wide while my hands dangled at my sides as I stood in front of the rainbow that was moving like a flowing river out of the ground.

"Wow." Ginko said in a hushed tone.

"It's beautiful...." Kourou mumbled while walking closer.

"Don't!" The Mushishi shouted, snapping my attention away from the Mushi. Ginko reached into the Kouda where the other man had disappeared into and yanked him back out. "You fool. Are you okay?" He asked the brunette.

"Y-Yeah."

"I wasn't sure until I saw it up close, but....it stings my skin. This is a type of Nagaremono."

"Nagaremono?"

"It is something very close to life, yet it's very close to something supernatural. Other than the fact that it has life, it's no different from the rainbow the sun and rain make. Most likely what made the Kouda is the light and rain infused with Kouki." The green eyed man looked back at the Mushi in front of us.

"Kouki?"

"It's what becomes the source of a Mushi's life. Nagaremono are similar to floods and typhoons. There's a reason why they occur, but there's no purpose. It exists only to travel. It affects others, but nothing can affect it. If you touch that type of Mushi, they'll attach to you." Ginko explained before the other man just fell onto his back.

"It wasn't my opponent. It feels like I have a hole in my body. So much that it's refreshing."

"What are you going to do now?"

"Who knows? I'll think about it for a while. How about you?" Ginko didn't answer and the man on the ground hummed. "You're just like this. You're just going to flow again."

I don't know where that man went after that. All I know is that in a country to the west, there was a bridge that didn't break. It was built over a river that often flooded. When it started to overflow, he'd out the binding pieces, and let the bride flow with the water. When it receded, he would put it back. There's a bridge called Nagare that was built by one man's idea....


	8. Chapter 8

Walking along the beach, I just followed Ginko as he searched for the ferry to cross. It wasn't until we passed by the same man twice that I grabbed the Mushishi's coat and stopped. Sighing, I turned to look at the man sitting on some rocks as he looked out to the water.

"Excuse me....I heard there's a ferry from here to across the bay. Is that true?" I asked him as Ginko looked over his shoulder.

"At this hour, I think everyone's out fishing."

"Oh.... Then I guess we'll just have to wait till the afternoon, huh?" The white haired man slid the wooden box off of his back and set it down while sitting on some rocks. Taking a seat next to him, I looked out over the sea. "What are you doing in a place like this?" He questioned the man while putting a Mushi cigarette between his lips.

"I'm waiting, too...." The brunette man answered. "My wife and I parted strangely out there on that sea. Ah, you probably don't want to hear the story, right? Especially with you're wife right there." I felt my face heat up as I kept my eyes straight ahead. _'Does he really think that I'm.... Oh, no....'_

"Well, actually, I do want to hear it. And this is my assistant." Ginko replied calmly. The man in the green yukata glanced at us before looking back to the sea.

"My apologies. You do? Then let me tell you.... I think it was about two-and-a-half years ago...." He began. He spoke of his wife and him getting into an argument just before they set out on the water, and he continued with snakes in the sea and a heavy fog. Listening as he went on about his wife's boat getting lost in the haze, his own boat capsized and he washed up on shore by the time the fog and his wife where gone. There was no trace of her, no boat, no luggage, no nothing that had washed onto the shore that proved she had been out there.

"Maybe it's because of the currents along this shore....everything in the sea washes ashore here. If my wife's boat capsized as well, at least a part of the cargo should wash up here.... Assuming she floated out to sea, she's probably dead.... But because I don't have any proof, I can't move from here."

"Snakes....?" Ginko mumbled. "Nothing." He said when the man looked at him. "But you've stayed here for two-and-a-half years? You're quite a fool. Whether you find evidence or not, she's no longer alive, right? Even if she was rescued, she's living a new life now." The Mushishi said calmly. "Isn't it about time for you to think about your own life? Well, I guess it was none of my business. Now, take care. Come on, Koga, I see a boat coming in." Following the green eyed man down the beach, I found that the man's story was a bit....peculiar.

"Haze.... Snakes.... Sounds familiar." Ginko paused as he walked before flicking the ashes from his cigarette and continuing on. Looking at his back as he walked, I felt my cheeks turn a little pink when I remembered that man thought I was Ginko's wife....

~

"Oh, excuse me...." The man in front of me called as we were back on that beach. "There was a guy around here who was waiting for his wife for a long...." He trailed off. "He isn't here anymore?"

"That person is....living as a member of our village now." The young woman with short hair said as she tightened her grip on the pole holding two baskets of fish. "So, I don't know who you are, but please leave him alone." And she quickly walked away.

~

"It still does bother you, doesn't it?" The man froze where he was as he had a hand on a boat.

"You...." He looked over his shoulder to see Ginko and I.

"You're story weighed on my mind, so I did a lot of checking. According to what I learned, the boat would show up again soon, so we came back here. That mass of snakes you saw.... No one else could see them. Isn't that right?"

"Y-yeah."

"That's what I thought. And can you see this?" The Mushishi questioned as his hand brushed over my tail to bring it into view. I jolted as my face went red and I shot him a glare.

"Leave that alone, Ginko!" I quickly said as my tail twitched out of his hand. The look on the man's face said that he in fact did see my tail and he was staring at me while pointing.

"What you saw were most likely Mushi." Ginko stated. "You've heard of umisen-yamasen? A snake that lives 1000 years in the sea and 1000 years in the mountains becomes a dragon. This Mushi has something in common with that. Of course, there's no way to tell how long they've actually lived. This kind of Mushi is divided into ones that amass and travel to the open sea while giving off something akin to a haze....and ones that live quietly deep in the mountains. At a glance, both look no different from snakes. When the time comes, the mountain Mushi descend from the mountains and the sea Mushi approach coastal waters. They meet in the sea, and 1000 days later, return to the same coastal waters to become a single Mushi." Ginko explained.

"So the same thing I saw is back again.... I'm going out to sea." The man returned his attention to the boat.

"Wait."

"I'll be fine. You can't see anything from outside the haze, but oddly, you can see out of it clearly."

"I'm sure you've wondered why only your wife was swallowed by the haze back then? From inside the haze, only those who want to return to land can see the land and return." The man's eyes went wide after he heard that. "The last time I saw you, it seemed you might lose your desire to go on living at the moment you found any of your wife's personal effects."

"Not anymore...." He mumbled.

"So it would seem." Ginko smirked. "Well, that's how it is." The white haired man said while stepping into the boat nonchalantly. "So long as you're aware of that, you're welcome to come along on my sightseeing trip. Are you ready for the worst?"

"Ginko!"

"What?" He looked at me while raising his visible brow as he smirked again. "You know you want to see it."

"....We're out as soon as it get's dangerous, you hear me." I pointed while climbing into the boat.

"Of course." He nodded before the brunette was the final member to join. The Mushishi took the rudder and lead the boat away from the shore while looking over his shoulder. "You were right. It's almost uncanny how well I can see land from inside this haze. You can still see it, I hope." He turned to look at the other guy as I peeked over the side of the boat to look into the water.

"I can see it." He replied.

"Ah, Ginko, they're here!" I sat up after seeing what could pass as giant white noodles or snakes. Looking around, the water was then filled with them.

"Get one in a jar." Ginko gestured with his head while not letting go of the rubber. Nodding, I grabbed a jar from one of the drawers and gently dipped it into the water. One just swam right in, wiggling around as I brought the jar up. "Their numbers are huge." Ginko said while making a face.

"....Our boat's not creaking, is it?"

"Huh?" The brunette glanced to me as my tail twitched, but then he turned his head, hearing what I was now as well. "There it is....that boat." The green eyed man lead our boat over to it, mostly drifting so we didn't disturb the Mushi.

"Looks like her body's still in it."

"I'll be alright...." The man sighed. "Pull up alongside." Tapping into the other boat, he hesitantly reached over to the yellow blanket in the bottom of the boat. His face was full of grief as he reluctantly pulled the blanket back, but his eyes went wide when the woman started to move.

"Honey?" She said as she sat up and I was just looking at her like she had a goose on her head. How was she even alive? ....What did she eat?

"Michihi?" The man said in disbelief. "You're all right...."

"I had all but given up hope." She began to cry. "But....what took you so long? Leaving me here for days.... It's already been at least three days, right?"

"What....in the world?" The man started crying as well and I looked to Ginko with confusion. "I'm so sorry.... I said some terrible things to you."

"Yes, they were terrible things you said. But it's all right. You came to rescue me.... I complained too much, as well. But I didn't mean it....I can't wait to see your hometown."

"Yes, let's go. Now come over to this side."

"Wait." Ginko spoke up.

"Huh?"

"Can you still see land?"

"It's okay. I can see it clearly. It's over that way." He pointed deeper into the fog and I looked around Ginko to see if he was right. No....I saw land in the opposite direction. Which of us was right?

"It's time to say goodbye. The land you should return to is....this way." And Ginko pointed the way I saw land. "That is no longer human." He looked to the woman in the other boat. "The Mushi have begun to transform. It isn't safe to remain here. Stand back from that right now."

"....Shiro?" The woman turned to a white goo rising into the air as her kimono fell into the boat. White masses were rising up from the sea all around us now and the boat was rocking. Clinging to the side, I frantically looked around as the waves were growing larger from the Mushi massing together and flowing to a larger whole. _'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! I can't fucking swim!'_ I thought while cursing at myself and a large wave of Mushi rose up in front of us before crashing back into the water by the boat, sending everyone on board flying.

"Koga!" Ginko shouted while reaching out to me before we hit the water. Closing my mouth to keep what oxygen I had in my lungs, I closed my eyes to keep the salt from stinging them. I could feel the Mushi rushing past me as they were hurrying to fuse in the center, and I had no hope of fighting my way to the surface until they were gone. My chest was starting to feel tight....

Feeling an arm wrap around my waist, I was being pulling in some direction until I felt my head break the surface. Coughing, I felt my back on someone's chest as I looked through the fog to see a giant Mushi forming in the water.

"Koga. Calm down, just breathe. Breathe." Ginko's voice came from behind my head and I felt his grip on me tighten as he shifted his hold. "Come here, hold onto this." I was shaking, still trying to catch my breath as my heart was wildly pounding in my chest. I was 'definitely' not getting back in the water without a bigger boat or knowing how to swim.

Grabbing onto the wooden box floating the water, Ginko was still right next to me with his hand on my back. Swallowing, there was a salty taste in my mouth from the sea water dripping down my face. Clinging to the box with one arm, my other hand grabbed onto his soaked sleeve that was draped over the other side of the box.

"Look up, it's okay. Land is just that way." His calm voice was trying to sooth me and keep me from freaking out because panicking at a moment like this could end up with me, or even him as well, dead. Looking up, I indeed saw land, but the haze was still there as I heard the Mushi rising from the water behind us. The other man had managed to grab onto the boat, floating just a few yards from us.

By the time we washed up on shore, the villagers had long given up hope for our survival. We thought we were out at sea for only two or three hours....but on land, more than a month had passed. The following day, that man's wife's boat washed up on shore. The people that had found it were going through the luggage that had fallen open on the beach, and the man watched as Ginko and I stood by.

"Is it okay?" The Mushishi questioned.

"It's okay. Its owner is gone...." He replied with a certain look in his eyes before he walked away to the woman calling his name. Following Ginko as he walked along the beach away from the people, I still had a hold on his shirt sleeve as his hands were in his pockets. He didn't seem to mind it, understanding that what had happened the day before still had me shaken up.

I was glad that he allowed it since it seemed the smallest bit of contact with him gave me comfort. Trailing beside him as our feet left dents in the sand, Ginko briefly glanced down at me.

"You're learning how to swim." He stated.


	9. Chapter 9

Seeds that root into the corpses of fathers and mothers. Stretch those green, green leaves.... Grow heavy, heavy fruits.

"Excuse me." Ginko called to the man working in the rice field. "Could you sell us some food?"

"Look at this field." The man waved his hand. "Because of the cold weather, it's hard to get any reserves from it. Give up on it."

"Go to the village past the next mountain." Another man spoke up. "That's the only village with a bumper crop this year."

"Oi, don't give him strange advice." The first guy looked to the other man that just waved him off. "You shouldn't. The rice from there isn't normal. Every time there's a natural disaster, they get bountiful crop. Apparently, it's a curse from their ancestors." Ginko and I exchanged looks and I knew all too well what that glint in his eye meant. We were going to go check it out.

~

"Hey. That's an amazing crop." The white haired man droned as a boy looked up.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"I was wondering if you could sell us some food."

"There's nothing to give to an outsider." The boy said while putting the straps of a basket onto his shoulders. "We don't get good crops every year. So we have to store it when we can."

"I see. So this year's good crop is a miracle?"

"That's right." Despite agreeing with Ginko, the boy had a solemn look on his face. "Because we worshiped our ancestors correctly, they protect us." He added before turning to walk away.

"In exchange, they take one person, right?" That stopped the boy in his tracks. "It seems a bit harsh for the deeds of the ancestors."

"It can't be helped." The boy replied in a low voice.

"It doesn't seem like it. Could you tell us your story?" I asked while looking at the boy. He was hesitant at first, but then lead up to a house on the edge of the forest by some rice paddies.

"I've heard about the tradition that started long ago where crops flourished whenever there was a natural disaster." The boy was saying as he sat next to his sick mother. He changed the rag on her forehead while continuing. "The fall of that year, someone will always grow a Mizuha in their mouth. By the end of the fall, that tooth falls out and that person dies.... It's been said that the lost life is an offering to the ancestors who gave us the miracle crop. Everyone appreciates it.... Without these miracles, we wouldn't have been able to survive...."

"Do the people whose lives are taken have anything in common?" Ginko asked while putting a cigarette between his lips.

"It's been said that the weak ones are first...."

"The bodies are buried?"

"Yeah."

"What about the tooth that falls out?"

"The tooth is enshrined at the temple by Saishi-sama."

"Saishi?" My tail twitched.

"He's the guy that takes care of all the village's ceremonies. I'm to become his successor, so I'm learning all sorts of things from him. A while after the tooth falls out, Saishi-sama becomes the only one who can see it. That's why Saishi-sama enshrines it."

"Why were you chosen to be his successor?"

"Like Saishi-sama, at times, I can see things that other people can't...." The boy's eyes drifted to me. "Like how you have a tail, but no one else seemed to notice."

"I'd like to meet this Saishi." The Mushishi stated.

~

"Saishi-sama!" The boy called as we neared an old house. He opened the door and looked inside, but saw no one. "Maybe he's in the back garden." And he ran off while Ginko wandered into the house. He picked up one of the books laying around and my tail swayed.

"Ginko, it's not nice to touch other people's stuff." I said.

"Ah, but it was in plain view. If you didn't want curious eyes to look at it, you'd hide it." The man replied. "Besides, it's just a book on dairy and agriculture." He waved his hand as I stepped into the house.

"It's rare to have a guest." Another voice said from behind me and I looked over my shoulder to see an older man with a towel around his neck. "Who might you be?" He questioned while walking past the door.

"I'm Ginko, a Mushishi. This is my assistant, Koga." The white haired man set down the book and followed the other man outside. "We're searching for something called the Narazu No Mi."

"I see...." Saishi looked at the blade of one of his tools. "Sane, aren't you still in the middle of your fieldwork?" He turned to the boy. "Come again after you're done. It's a large crop this year, so if you don't prepare for it correctly, it'll be hard to keep up."

"Okay." The boy simply nodded.

"Are you still worried about your mother? It'll be okay." Saishi softly smiled while ruffling the boy's hair. "Don't worry. Here, have her eat this." And he handed over what looked like a potato.

"Okay." The boy nodded again before he left.

"I've heard that a Mushishi came by during my predecessor's time." Saishi said as we sat inside and he was pouring tea. He was staring at my tail, but hadn't said anything of it. "It's a waste of your time." He added while picking up his cup. "That seed doesn't exist here."

"So you say this harvest is all due to the power of your ancestors?"

"Power of ancestors, huh? That's part of it too.... Because everyone believes in it, they can put their time and effort into the lands. But, that's not the only thing. Over the years, we've experimented with our crops, developing better ways to grow them. And at times, it brings us miracles like this year's." He smiled. "Our crops are growing every year too."

"Then what about the Mizuha?" Ginko had a serious look on his face, not beleiving what Saichi was saying.

"Growing a tooth after you've matured happens from time to time." The man shifted where he sat. "It has nothing to do with the crop. Now, please leave."

"Can I ask you one more thing?"

"What?" Saishi replied while walking over to his shelf of books and scrolls.

"It seems like you know about the Narazu No Mi."

"I heard about it from my predecessor." The man replied while sitting at a desk covered in books. "I was told that a Mushishi sealed the Koumyaku inside of it."

"That's right. You can probably sense the Koumyaku. Since it seems that you're the type that can see Mushi." Ginko said as I watched Saichi open a book and two worm-like Mushi were squirming about in it. "Like those Mushi, the weaker they are, the brighter they get. It's because they are that much closer to the source of Mushi, the Kouki. The Koumyaku is the vein in which Kouki flows through. It's basically life itself."

"If you can control it, it can be used to live forever or to revive things. There are numerous ways to use it. Of course, it's the most forbidden thing a Mushishi can do.... But there have been exceptions. The seed is one of those. If you bury it in the ground, the surrounding area flourishes for a year. In return, it takes a life from the people that have benefited from it. That's what's been told among us." Ginko rested his arms on his legs as he spoke.

"So, what do you want to do with this seed if you find it? Are you going to destroy it? Or use it?"

"That's what I want to ask you." The Mushishi smirked while looking at the other man. "What would you do with it? If you had a seed that in exchange for one life, would save many others?"

"I'd probably use it." Saishi looked away. "If the seed already existed, it's a bigger sin to not use what that one life gave."

"But if you planted the seed knowing that it was going to take a life, it's the same as killing someone. No matter how many lives are saved because of it, the person who is sacrificed has no choice." I spoke up.

"If that's the only sin, I'm sure everyone would do the same thing. If you can protect two people with one life...."

"If you look at it in the terms of one year, it would be hard not to use it. But, if you use it once, it means that it will be used again. And that seed is alive. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. Eventually, it will destroy all balance." Ginko's voice gained a subtle edge that I picked up on.

"Are you telling me you wouldn't use it? That you could live without using it?"

"I don't know. I've never lived in a village before. I'd leave the land before it would turn bad."

"Here, in this ground, the bodies of our ancestors sleep!" The man rose to his feet while furrowing his brows. _'More like decay...._ ' I mentally popped off as my tail swayed. "We opened this land and cultivated it up to this point. That's our pride!"

"But aren't you tainting that precious land by planting something that's not natural into the ground?" Ginko calmly asked.

"What are you talking about?" The man laughed while sitting back down. "This is a 'what if' story. I know that. If that seed really existed....I'd think about it more." Saishi held his head while staring down at his desk and I knew something was off. "That one seed would be too much for one person to bear. Just like the heavy seeds that fall from an overgrown stem, it will overflow from hands and fall onto the ground without knowing the pain that the people are left with." And that was the end of the conversation as Ginko and I left.

"What do you think?" The white haired man asked me as we were leaving the house.

"His words and actions don't add up. I've seen guilt ridden faces before, and he definitely had one." I mumbled.

"Agreed."

"Are you done talking?" Sane asked as he came running up.

"Most of it."

"So are you going to save everyone?"

"Yeah. But to do that, I need approval from the entire village. I have to tell them the trick behind the goodbye harvest. Could you gather everyone somewhere?"

"Sure." The boy nodded. "But, how do you plan to...."

"Are you going to burn the fields?" Saishi stepped out. "You think the only way to stop this is to destroy the crop before someone grows the Mizuha?"

"That's right." Ginko looked over his shoulder. "So you've finally admitted to it."

"You're mistaken. Even if you do that, no one will be saved. Are you planning to starve everyone?"

"You only need to be away from here for a year. If everyone separates for a year and goes to different places, they should survive. By the spring, the ashes would have fertilized the ground."

"How many people do you think will come back once they leave here?" Saichi leaned on the rock wall. "Everyone stays here because they don't know what real fertility is. It's all right this way. I won't let you give them any ideas." He said while grabbing the front of his clothes over his heart. It sounded like he was having difficulty breathing too, but I wasn't sure because my ears were covered. Then, Saishi seemed to lose the spark in his eyes as he keeled forward and face-planted into the ground.

"Saishi-sama!"

~

"Does he have some illness?" Ginko asked as I brought Sane fresh water for the rag on Saishi's head.

"I don't know for sure, but lately, he hasn't been feeling well. I've seen him take medicine."

"Medicine?"

"It's in here." Sane said lowly while holding up a little bottle. Ginko took it and pulled out the stopper before sniffing it. Getting a drop of the liquid inside on his finger, he licked it to see what it was. His eyes narrowed as he looked to me and the expression on his face said that whatever it was, it wasn't good.

We left, but later that night the Mushishi returned to see Saishi while I remained outside. Looking out over the fields of rice, I could faintly hear the drone of Ginko's deep voice, but I couldn't make out anything he was saying to the man inside. Sighing, I looked to the sky to see the sea of stars glittering in the dark.

It was so quiet here, and it felt a bit odd to not be hearing all of the bugs or nocturnal animals I'd usually hear while Ginko and I were in the forests or mountains. I was just so used to the outdoors now that one could hardly believe the pampered lifestyle I had come from. In all honesty, leaving my parents was the best decision I had ever made because of the life I had now. I could help people without taking their food or being forced to use their fortune. They didn't have to beg for a mystical healer that wasn't really as mystical as they believed, and Ginko and I only took what we needed to survive or something random as payment for the things we did.

It was refreshing to not be under my parents' thumb, and the freedom I was basking in now had me not even thinking of my past like I used to....

~

"Hey." Ginko softly smiled to the boy that was crying. Sane sniffled, and I knew he was sad because of Saishi dying from the poison he had been giving himself so that he would get the Mizuha.

Going inside, Sane knelt beside the man laying down as his lungs were rattling in his chest. I could hear it now, but it was muffled by my headscarf.

"The festival is going on smoothly. Everyone's having a good time." Sane said before Saishi reached into his mouth and pulled out the Mizuha. The older man looked weak and his eyes were sunken as he laid on his death bed. The boy began to cry again as Saishi handed it to him. "It's okay, I'll do as you've said." And the man's hand dropped as Sane cried. "Why? Why? I don't like this!" He sobbed. Ginko opened the boy's hand while taking the seed.

"Don't tell anyone about what I'm about to do." He said in a serious tone. The Mushishi knelt down beside Saishi and rolled him onto his back. Having Sane hold his head, Ginko slipped the seed back into Saishi's mouth before I poured some water in so that it would go down his throat. We waited the night, but by morning the older man was coming to. Sane was yet again crying, but from joy now as he saw his mentor alive again.

In that village, that year's crop was talked about forever. At the same time, a strange legend was born. The year that the goodbye harvest ended, the rice that grew revived a dead man, and that man became immortal. It's said that he would come back from time to time and tell the people new ways to cultivate the land....


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *WARNING: Mature content ahead, proceed at own risk*

"I've meant to ask before, but I've got a question about your tail." Ginko said as we were walking through the forest on a mountain.

"What about?" I asked while looking to the trees above. We weren't in a village, so my red hair and ears were in plain view as I listened to the forest around me. The white haired man glanced back over his shoulder at me.

"Why are there times you're fine with me touching your tail, but other times when you get upset about it?" He questioned. "Does it have to do with your Mushi half or is it something else?" I averted my gaze as my cheeks and the tips of my ears got hot with embarrassment.

"No...." I mumbled.

"Huh? What is it then?"

"....Sensitive...." My voice got quieter.

"Does it hurt?" Ginko stopped walking as he looked at me. "Why didn't you say so?"

"I can hang from my fucking tail. Trust me, pain isn't the problem here."

"Then what is it?" There was a spark of curiosity in his eyes.

"Is that the sea I smell? We must be getting close!" I tried to change the subject.

"Koga. What is it?" Ginko's curiosity was a boundless thing and once he had a question about something, he wanted an answer. He had to to know what, why, and how things were, and if a new Mushi was involved, the laid-back man was turned into a child until he figured it out.

"....It feels good." I mumbled as my cheeks turned a deep red.

"Like a cat?" He smirked, shifting on his feet while having his hands in his pockets.

"No, more like....I get aroused by it. The lower on my tail, it's no problem, but the higher you go...." I trailed off while seeing the deadpanned look on his face.

"Is that the sea I smell?" He said while turning on his heel and walking on. "The village should be just ahead." Hiding my face in my hands, I was internally screaming with embarrassment.

~

"Oi, I'm here." Ginko called out as we stood outside of the doctor's house.

"Over here, Ginko." We turned to see Adashino on a ladder by his storehouse. "Thanks for coming." He rested the hammer on his shoulder and his face lit up when he saw me. "Ah, you brought Koga with you!"

"I'm not for trade!" I quickly said while taking a cautionary step behind the Mushishi.

"Hai, hai." He chuckled. "But come in, I'll show you why I need you." He said to Ginko while climbing down the ladder. "I was careless." Adashino stated as he carried a candle through the storehouse. "I've tried to not show anything from my storehouse to the people from the village."

"And the patients?"

"They're getting weaker. I'm making them drink hot water to keep them warm, but...." The doctor sighed as Ginko and I sat down. "It's this." He placed an inkstone down. "I bought this from a friend. It's pretty, but apparently it's made from the fossils of some type of Mushi."

"A Mushi fossil?" I tilted my head while looking at Ginko. "Is that even possible?"

"They don't usually leave corpses." He mumbled while picking up the inkstone and holding his cigarette between his lips. "don't buy things like this with iffy information." Ginko blew some smoke from his mouth before giving Adashino a serious look. "It's troublesome. Have you forgotten that the things you collect are of a different existence?"

"I'm sorry."

"Well, I'll have a look at it." The Mushishi grab something from a drawer in his box and began to inspect the inkstone more closely. "This isn't a fossil." He said after a while. "It looks like a Mushi that's still alive. And what did those kids say they were doing?"

"They rubbed an ink stick on it. They said it felt like something cold came out and they breathed it in." Adashino replied.

"....By being rubbed, it reproduces, gets inside your body, and then freezes it from the inside." _'Sounds like a bad marriage.'_ I mentally popped off as Ginko set the stone down. "It's hard to figure out what Mushi it is just from this."

"I see."

"Doesn't the previous owner know anything?" The Mushishi asked while resting his chin in his palm.

"My friend doesn't know anything else about it. All the previous owners of that ink stone....died after using it."

"So the only one left would be the person who made it."

"There's an inscription on it. If you look it up, you should be able to find the address." The doctor turned over the ink stone.

"I'll go." Ginko said while standing up. "I'm going to borrow this from you. Come on, Koga." He picked up the stone as I was getting to my feet.

"Thanks." Adashino bowed his head to us and the white haired man pat him on the shoulder before we left.

~

There were many birds calling from the trees as we neared where the ink stone maker lived, and we stopped by to ask a woman for directions.

"Oh, it's over there, but she doesn't make ink stones anymore."

"Why is that?"

"I'm not sure. She just stopped one day. She has no family, but she had skill." The woman told us and we walked off in the direction she pointed us in as she went back to work. Climbing further up the hill, we reached a house and saw the door open with no one inside. Peeking around the corner, we saw a woman kneeling in a garden.

"Who are you?" She asked when she noticed us there. Ginko pulled out the ink stone and unwrapped it, showing it to her.

"Are you the one who made this?" Her eyes went wide as she took the stone.

"This is my signature." She said while looking at the back. "What about this?"

"Right now, there are people suffering because of this ink stone. I want you to tell us what you know." The Mushishi said calmly and the woman held the stone to her chest while sighing.

"Thanks for coming. I've been looking for this ink stone for a long time." We followed her as she walked, leading us towards a bed of rocks. "From what I know, there have been three people that have used that ink stone. I heard they all died within a month. That was a while after my father, a well known ink stone maker, fell ill." She began.

"I had a fiance. He lived in a city that was beyond one mountain. He was a customer of my father, but both he and his parents didn't want me to take over my father's business. I had to, though, and I thought that if I make something that he approves of then...." She trailed off. "After that, I put my all into making ink stones. But....I couldn't make anything that satisfied me. And then one day I dug out that rock. I was strangely drawn to it and carved that rock. And the ink stone I made was the best yet." She stated.

"I showed it to my father and rubbed an ink stick on it, but when I did, something like smoke came out of it and rose to the ceiling. My father couldn't see it, though, and I happened to breathe some of it in...." She shifted on her feet while looking at the stone. "It had been a few days since I inhaled that smoke, but there was no harm. I was the only one that could see it. And I took it to my fiance for him to see my work. He wanted to keep it as he tried to convince his parents, and he'd send a letter when he had an answer from them. But, the letter I got a month later, informed me of his death."

"Since the day I gave him that ink stone, he caught a strange illness. He complained that he was cold, and his body temperature kept on dropping. The ink stone was deemed ominous and was sold to an antiquary. I visited the antiquary, but it had already been sold, so I didn't know where it went. But a rumor came to the store....another person had died because of the stone. After that, my father died and I stopped making ink stones." She said while sitting down on a rock. "I want to be of help, but that's all I know."

"No, now I know what it is....thanks." Ginko replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Sorry, but we're in a hurry." He said and I turned to follow him. If he knew what the Mushi was, then he could get those kids better as soon as we got back.

"Wait! Could I buy back that ink stone? It's something I want to destroy with my own hands."

"But it isn't mine."

"Why don't you come along?" I asked as my tail swayed, and her eyes went wide as she caught sight of it. Oh yeah....she can see Mushi.

~

"Looks like you've learned your lesson." Ginko popped off as Adashino was holding his head as he sat on his porch.

"You're back! You'd better have enough information to say that." The doctor rose to his feet.

"Don't worry, I'll save them."

"And I'm gonna find them shiny stuff to make them feel better." I nodded. "Kids like shiny stuff, right? I know I did."

"The Mushi that's inside the ink stone is called Kumohami. It looks like a thunderhead cloud and, just like it's name, it's a cloud." Ginko explained. "In other words, it eats the moisture and ice in the atmosphere and turns it into snow and hail. When that happens in the sky, you can't see any clouds, but it still hails. But it's something that depends on the wind, and it can't move on its own. When there's a long period of clear skies, it shrinks itself and comes down to land. It freezes itself into hibernation. That's probably something that turned into stone over thousands of years of hibernation." He glanced to the ink stone maker. "And over time, it resurfaced as an ink stone....and each time it was given water, it reproduced."

"So what are we doing?"

"Tagane-san, you went over a mountain when you delivered the ink stone, right? The reason why you're okay even after you inhaled that smoke is because of that. I'm going to take the patients to the tallest mountain around here." Ginko stated and that night they prepared for the next day for the trip to the mountains.

The children were bundled up on their parent's back as their teeth were chattering from the cold. We took breaks to boil water to help keep them warm, but the Mushi was doing its thing and making them cold even to the touch. We continued to ascend even as the air was becoming thinner, and all I wanted to do was take a nap after spending last night looking for shiny stuff.

"Ginko." Adashino called out, and the Mushishi looked off to the side, seeing how we were above the low floating clouds already.

"It should be soon." Ginko replied and we only went a few more yards before smoke began to seep from the children's ears. "Everyone, hold your breath!" And as everyone did as they were told, smoke poured from the mouths and ears of the kids like they had a wood stove burning inside of them.

Honestly....it was interesting to watch as the smoke flowed out and began to form clouds in the sky high above us and it took about a minute for everything to get out of them. The Kumohami drifted overhead as the families were hugging their children while being overjoyed that they were better.

When we were going back down the mountain, I looked to the children and stuffed my hands into my pockets.

"Hey kids, want some shiny beetles?" I asked while pulling out my pockets and the kids looked in awe at the insects crawling over my hands. The girl cringed, but was curious none-the-less.

"Koga. Please tell me you did not have those in your pockets this entire time." Looking over my shoulder at Ginko as the kids were plucking beetles from my hands, my tail swayed and I smiled.

"It's fine, it's dark and cozy in there."

"That's not what I mean." He sighed while covering his face with his hand.

"Oh, Adashino, do you want one? I got plenty!" I said when I noticed him staring. His face paled and an evil grin tugged at my lips. "A-da-shi-no-sen-sei!~" I taunted. "Have a shiny beetle!" And I began to chase the doctor with the bugs in my hands and the kids began to follow suit while laughing.

~

"Isn't this technically Mushi poop?" I asked as we were eating hail that had fallen from the Kumohami that had been released from the ink stone. Ginko just gave me a look as my tail swayed.

"The roof repairs are going to cost a lot for the entire village." Adashino said while trying to ignore my comment.

"You can bill it to me. I'll repay it, even if it takes a lifetime."

"But how are you going to?"

"You should make ink stones again." Ginko spoke up. "You'll be able to pay it back in no time."

"But...."

"Than....can I order one?" Adashino sighed. "I wouldn't mind if it contained a Mushi."

"You're not over it, are you?" The Mushishi droned.

"I guess. But it may take a while." The woman said while looking to the sky.

"When is it going to stop?"

"It's been a while since it's eaten...." I mumbled as a piece of the roofing tile broke off and hit the ground. "Never thought I'd see it raining Mushi shit."

"Oh, would you stop with that!" Adashino looked at me while pointing with his fan. As the woman walked into the house, I took the fan from the doctor and held it with my tail. Setting down my hail, I pushed my eyebrows down to mock the face he was making.

"Oh, would you stop with that!" I repeated in a deeper voice and his eyes went wide since all he saw was his fan floating behind me.

"You really do have a tail!" And excitement sparked in his eyes as he reached out. "I can actually feel it!"

"Yeah, it has physical form, but because of how Mushi it is you can't see it." I replied as the fan wagged in the man's face. He was only touching the end of my tail, so everything was fine.

"It feels like a cat's....but it's prehensile like a monkey's." Adashino muttered while scooting to where he was behind me. "This is incredible!"

"Prehensile means it can grab stuff, right?" I asked while looking over my shoulder.

"Correct." The doctor nodded and my shoulders tensed as his hands went further up my tail. "And you have complete control of this? How are your nerves in here?" He began to ask a bunch of questions while feeling my tail and I jolted when he reached half-way up.

"O-okay, you can let go now." I said as the tips of my ears were starting to get warmer.

"Wow, I can even feel the muscle moving in there!" Adashino said in awe as he tightened his grip and I covered my mouth as my face felt hot. "Ah, I wish I could see it! What does it look like? I feel fur, what color is it?" His hands began to venture higher up as my tail was twitching, and I was angry with how I couldn't keep my own body under control. "Huh? Ginko?" And I felt the doctor's hand get pulled off.

"I think that's enough." Ginko stated, his voice firmer than usual.

"Oh, come now, how often is it that someone like me can actually experience something Mushi? I can't see or feel Mushi, but I can feel her tail! Isn't that wonderful?" Adashino sounded like an excited child, but he seemed oblivious to the state I was in from him rubbing his hands over the sensitive areas on my tail.

"Koga's not a specimen to study, Adashino. She's my assistant."

"That happens to be half Mushi."

"That happens to also be half human. Don't grab her tail without permission."

~

"....Thanks." I mumbled as Ginko and I were walking through the mountain away from the village.

"Huh?" The man looked over his shoulder at me. "For what?"

"That...." I cleared my throat while rubbing the back of my neck as my cheeks dusted pink. "Uh, back there with Adashino." I averted my gaze. "Thanks for getting him to stop."

"Mm.... I was a bit tempted myself."

"Huh?" My eyes went a fraction wider as I looked at the white haired man.

"I was wondering as to just how sensitive your tail was." Ginko said nonchalantly. "I'm still a little curious, to be honest. He was only about halfway up your tail and you were close to writhing on the porch." My face felt like it was getting hotter as he looked down at me. "What would happen if I was to reach the base of your tail?"

"U-uh....um....that's...." I found it hard to form an actual sentence as he stepped closer.

"Hm, what about your ears?" He tilted his head to the side. "Are they the same as a human's or are they more sensitive?" Ginko's voice held curiosity, but my ears drooped when I picked up a strange tone as he spoke. "If they move like that, they probably have more nerves, huh? Mm, or maybe not so they aren't as vulnerable?" The man mumbled as my back hit a tree.

"G-Ginko, I, uh- It's-"

"Your face is so red." The white haired man stated while tilting my head up with a finger under my chin. "Why are you so flushed? I'm only asking questions."

"....Hot...." I said lowly. "I-it's kinda hot, how about backing up?" Pushing the man back a bit, my senses seemed to be going into hyperdrive from how close he was. "So, how about that Mushi cloud, huh?" I nervously chuckled before swallowing.

"You're trying to change the subject again." Ginko stepped closer, trapping me against the tree by pressing his hips against mine. "By the way, you're not very discreet with how much you stare at me." My cheeks felt like they were on fire as the green eyed man looked down at me.

"Hey, look, is that a new Mushi?!" I quickly said, feeling as if my heart was going to pound out of my chest. It wouldn't surprise me if he could hear it, but what did surprise me was how he managed to keep that same calm expression on his face that he usually had.

"That's not going to work." And then a little smirk played onto his lips. He briefly glanced down, and I realized my tail had unconsciously wrapped around his leg and my face went redder if possible from embarrassment. My body suddenly jolted, feeling his hand running over my tail as it was around his thigh like it was a tree branch. Unable to help it, my hands fisted in the front of his shirt as he let his hand travel higher up.

Running his thumb over the base of my tail, my body arched into him as I took in a sharp breath. I could feel a fire flickering in my gut and Ginko's scent was just so damn alluring....

"Ah, I forgot to ask." He paused. "Koga, are you okay with me touching you?"

"How can you ask that with such a straight face?" I managed to say as I was panting. He just shrugged and waited for my answer. "....I'm....fine with i- Aah~!" My back arched again as he rubbed the base of my tail harder than before.

"Wow, that is pretty sensitive." Ginko droned, and as he was looking down at me, I felt something getting hard between his legs as his body was pressing against mine. I covered my mouth as I was panting to muffle any more moans that might escape, but my knees were getting weak as he rubbed his thumb in a circular motion.

There was a noise at the back of my throat as I tugged on the front of his shirt and I finally noticed that vibration in my chest was a purr. Ginko heard it and tilted his head slightly to the side. He seems to listen for a few seconds before he actually said something.

"Are you purring? How interesting." The white haired man smirked and my knees finally gave out. He caught me, his hands on my thighs to keep me from hitting the ground. Instead of holding me up, he sat down with me in his lap and shrugged that wooden box off of his shoulders. "So this makes you feel that good?" He asked while stroking the underside of my tail just above my ass and my body arched into him again as my breath shuddered.

"Y-Yes." I said under my breath.

"And if I were to do this as well?" Ginko leaned forward and brushed his lips over the skin on my neck. A shiver ran down my spine as he began to gently kiss the side of my neck up to my jaw and I had to muffle another moan. He got his answer either way from how my grip on his shirt tightened and my purr got louder. "I see." He hummed as his free hand ran up the outside of my thigh and to my hip where he slipped his fingers under my shirt and touched my bare skin.

His hands were warm and my body felt hot, but it felt like even more heat was pooling between my legs. The hand in my shirt trailed up my side and he grabbed my breast when he nipped at my neck. I moaned again, and Ginko still looked as calm as before as it seemed he was touching me with such curiosity. My body was leaning into his touch as my hips were unconsciously grinding into his.

The Mushishi made me lean back so that he could take my clothes off and my entire face seemed to burn with how his green eye looked at my body. Panting, I lowered the hand from my mouth to tug on the button of his pants. Ginko just watched me as I reached into his underwear and pulled his erection free. It was hot and hard in my palm and I could even feel his heavy pulse.

"Ginko...." I purred while rubbing my thumb over the tip of his cock. His expression finally changed as his jaw clenched and the tips of his ears turned red. Running my fingers over his shaft, I teased him to get his face to flush as it seemed his dick got even harder.

Pressing my chest against his, I rose in his lap as I hovered over his hard cock and his jaw rested on top of my breasts while I looked down at him. Cupping my hand on one of his cheeks, I used my other hand to push his bangs out of the way so that I could clearly see his face. That one green eye was looking at me so tentatively while that pool of darkness in his other socket was just there. It still looked like there was a shadow just curled up and sleeping in there....

Bringing my head down, my lips brushed across his, and I felt his large hands running up the back of my thighs. My body shuddered from his touch, and I kissed the white haired man like I had been wanting to for so long. I could still faintly smell the smoke from his cigarettes and it had a sort of calming affect on me, but my body still felt hot and I wanted Ginko to touch me even more.... Thank Heaven's, we were in the middle of the forest with no one else around.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *WARNING: Mature content ahead, proceed at own risk*

Eating noodles as I sat next to Ginko, I was staring at the mountain in the distance that had a giant hole in it. The other people didn't seem to notice it, but the Mushishi and I did.

"Ah, how beautiful the Holy Mountain is." One man sighed as he took off his hat and sat outside the noodle shop. "Marvelous. Miss, please give me some noodles." He called in a friendly tone.

"Sure thing!"

"Order for two." The other guy with him added.

"Oh, and some sake too." Briefly glanced at them as they sat on the other side of Ginko, I stuffed my cheeks with some of my noodles. The white haired man paused with his food in front of his mouth before looking back at the mountain and I followed his gaze. The hole was gone.

I guess I know what we're doing after we finished these noodles....

~

Walking through the village by the mountain, we passed a house with its door wide open and multiple pairs of shoes just beyond the entrance. I could hear a bunch of men speaking inside as well, and Ginko stopped in front of the because of some of the things they were saying.

"See, we shouldn't enter the mountain right now. That's what Mujika-dono said."

"But that's why we should be worried about him."

"Are you arguing about something that has to do with the mountain?" Ginko droned and everyone inside turned to look.

"Who are you?"

"I'm a Mushishi." The white haired man replied while pulling out a cigarette. "I thought I may be of some help since the mountain seems to be acting strange."

"Hey, a Mushishi?"

"He said he's a Mushishi?" And they all began to murmur among themselves and I rose a brow.

"Sir...." An old man stepped up.

"Yeah?"

"Then there's something we'd like to ask of you." The elder knelt down on the tatami mat while looking at the Mushishi. "Could you look for a Mushishi named Mujika who lives in the mountain? There's an omnipotent guardian that lives in this mountain." He explained as someone else offered us tea. Accepting it, Ginko and I sat down.

"Mujika is the one person that knows the will of the guardian." The old man continued. "Every time something happened, we waited for his guidance. This too is one of his teachings.... It is forbidden for us to enter deep into the forest during the harvest time like it is now. But it's been a while since Mujika disappeared from his house. A few people went into the forest in search of him, but they came down with a fever and almost lost their lives." He told us, and we left to search the mountain.

The trees were orange and brown with the fall, and the ground was covered in dead leaves that crunched under my feet. My tail was swaying as I looked around the forest with interest. There were still some birds chirping, and the trees were heavy with fruit that had yet to fall. There also seemed to be a soft glow all over the plants, but it got thicker the further into the forest we went.

However, as we went deeper into the mountain, my skin began to buzz as I felt a hum in the air. A sweet scent filled my nose as the trees looked golden and flowing with life and I pulled on my shirt collar to let some of the cool air in. It was getting a bit hot under my coat and I couldn't figure out why as that golden aura on the plants filled the forest.

"What a tremendous amount of energy." Ginko hummed. "It seems sweet, yet bitter." He continued as my body felt electrified. Was I being affected by the mountain? "It sucks on to your skin. This is a river of life....the vein in which life flows. It's harvest season, so even a normal mountain increases its energy, but this...." The Mushishi told me as I began to pant and fan my face. His back was to me, so I figured he was too focused on the forest to notice my predicament. "If you enter here without caution, you'll get sick from all the energy."

"Ginko...." I panted. "I think I'm getting sick, then." The white haired man looked over his shoulder at me as smoke escaped his mouth. He looked me up and down as my tail swayed and he grabbed the cigarette in his mouth before speaking.

"No, you're absorbing the energy." He stated before sighing and shrugging the box off of his shoulders. Putting the cigarette back into his mouth, he grabbed my face while tilting it from one side to the other, examining it. "It's probably because of your Mushi half." Ginko said and there was a tingling on my skin where he touched me. "Ah, but you're still taking it in. We're going to have to get rid of this extra energy." The Mushishi droned.

"How?" I asked while tugging on my shirt collar. He smirked as smoke escaped his mouth, and his hands fell from my face. The next thing I knew, I was on my hands and knees with Ginko pulling my pants down.

"Mm, this should work for now. I'll teach you how to block the energy when we get off the mountain." The white haired man said while grabbing my hips. I took in a sharp breath when he began to rub his crotch against mine and my nails dug into the dirt as my tail instinctively lifted out of the way.

I could feel him getting hard as I was still panting and having that buzz in my skin. As my body got even hotter, I could feel my slick coating his erection as he rubbed against me and leaves crunched beneath my palms. My head hung from my shoulders and I could see his knees between mine as my thighs were bare and feeling the chill of the autumn air.

I moaned when Ginko suddenly penetrated me, and my hands fisted on the ground. I could see what he had been talking about earlier, there was a faint glow dancing over my knuckles like on the branches of the trees. The Mushishi's grip on my hips tightened as he began to thrust his cock in and out of me and my panting became ragged as moans spilled from my lips and a purr vibrated my chest.

My forehead touched the cool, forest floor as I dug my nails into the ground and Ginko continued to snap his hips into me. My body flinched when I heard him groan and that deep baritone of his voice made my body shiver. I felt like my skin was on fire with the heat, but felt a sort of cool relief when my coat fell off of my back and over my head. It went dark, but it seemed the lack of vision made my sense of touch more sensitive and I moaned even louder.

My breasts were swaying with Ginko's thrusts and one of his hands on my hips slid to my back as he grabbed the base of my tail. My back arched towards the earth as a pleasure filled noise ripped itself from my throat and my ears were more keen to picking up Ginko's grunts and groans. I could also hear the sound of his cock being buried deep inside of me before being pulled back out just to be thrusted back in.

Sweat coated my skin as I was mewling and writhing beneath the Mushishi, and with how slow he was going I knew he was trying to take his time in getting rid of this extra energy I was soaking up. I felt drool tricking from the corners of my mouth as leaves crunched under my hands balling into fists again.

"G-Ginko~! Fuck~! Aah~!" I moaned. "Pl-please- Aah~!" And his hips began to snap into me as he went harder. He groaned again as my body flinched and his fingers teased the base and underside of my tail, sending me into a downward spiral of pleasure and bliss. The hum I felt in the air was slowly being replaced by how Ginko's touch elicited sparks at the ends of my nerves as he stroked my tail and thrusted his cock into me.

I could still smell that sweet scent of the forest, but the smell of sex and Ginko was tickling at my nose now as well. When the white haired man became unable to prolong it any longer, he picked up speed while groaning and my moans became even louder. The darkness that filled my vision didn't perturb me, it only made me feel like I was completely surrounded by the green eyed man as I clawed at the earth while being unable to really control my body. It was as if I was a marionette and Ginko was playing with the strings.

My body shuddered as I covered my mouth to muffle the pleasure filled scream escaping my throat. Ecstasy was pulsing within me as I finally climaxed and I could feel myself tightening around Ginko as he grunted. He placed both hands onto my hips now, slamming into me and he was soon following my lead as hot cum began to drip down my thighs.

"That should....be good....for now...." The Mushishi panted and I heard him swallow. "Let's....get you....cleaned up." His breath was so heavy and my body was still shivering as I could still feel the last tastes of my orgasm.

~

"If it's a river of life, then there should be a guardian watching over it." Ginko droned, acting as if we hadn't had to take a pause in our investigation on the mountain. "The mountain's instability is probably because something is wrong with the guardian." He told me while crouching in front of his things and opening a drawer. "If so, the Mushishi in question should know about it."

"That Mujika they mentioned?" I asked.

"Yeah." Ginko nodded, but his head looked up as mine did when we heard something heavy falling. Getting up and peeking around a tree and some brush, I saw a boy laying on his stomach on the ground. "Huh?" The white haired man rolled the kid over and sat him up. "Oi!" He pat the boy's cheek to get him to wake up. "What are you doing here?" The Mushishi asked when the kid finally came to.

"I'm going to find Mujika." _'Thank god this kid didn't walk by earlier...'_ I thought with a hint of embarrassment. "I'm Mujika's apprentice." He said sternly. _'Poor child would have been scarred for life.'_

"I see." Ginko then handed something over to the kid. "Keep this in the back of your mouth." It looked like a small, round seed and the boy took it. The kid accidentally bit down on it and his face twisted with disgust.

"I-It's bitter!"

"You're supposed to bite it when you feel faint." The man smirked. "It's a stimulant."

"Tell me that first!" The kid looked at him with tears in his eyes from how bad the thing tasted.

"Well, stay put for a while. I'll find your teacher." Ginko rose to his feet and slid out of his shoes as he stepped over a fallen log.

"What are you doing?" The boy asked as the Mushishi put out saki cups of Kouki.

"Magura riding." The man replied while sitting down in the center of the circle of glowing, golden liquid. "There are Mushi called Mugura which are like the nerves of a mountain." Ginko explained while rolling up one of his sleeves. "I'm going to synchronize with them and run around the mountain." And he placed his palm onto the ground as my tail twitched. My head tilted in curiosity since I had yet to see him do this, but I did remember him mentioning Mugura to me before. "They're here."

Little Mushi that looked like nerves wiggled up from the earth and seemed to nip at Ginko's hand before more appeared and they suddenly wrapped around the Mushishi like ropes. The Kouki was rippling and Ginko remained absolutely calm while searching the mountain with the Mushi. The boy was also focused on Ginko and I hoped that what he was doing was safe.

The man jolted with wide eyes as the Mugura quickly let go of him. They receded back into the ground and I didn't really like the look of shock on Ginko's face.

"Are you okay?" I asked with furrowed brows. He was quiet, just sitting there for a few seconds before getting to his feet.

"Let's go." The man gathered his things and I assumed he was fine from the determined look he now had. "It's this way."

"What?" The boy stumbled to follow and I stepped over the fallen tree to catch up. "Really?" And Ginko lead the way as we ventured through the mountain. When we came to a clearing of trees, there was a path overgrown by grass and the white haired man took it. As we walked, though, we all paused when a loud bell rung in the distance.

"A bell? It must be around 4p.m. then." Ginko mumbled. "It should be around here." He stated as we neared a cliff.

"Hey! That's...." The kid pointed out a hat with moss and plants growing on the top of it and it looked odd to me.

"Oi!" Following the sound of the voice, we saw an old man at the bottom of the cliff on some rocks. He was waving his hand to get our attention and I glanced to Ginko.

"Mujika?!" The boy called while leaning over the steep cliff. A few small rocks came loose and I pulled him back out of caution. Sighing, I kicked off my shoes and the boy looked at me with confusion.

"I'll get him. Just watch the kid." I told Ginko before crouching and swinging my leg over the side of the cliff.

"Be careful." He replied.

"What are you doing? Shouldn't we get a rope?"

"If the rope breaks, then the old guy is tumbling back down and might not be as fucking lucky as he was the first time." I replied while climbing down. Carefully placing my hands and feet on the side of the cliff, I made sure the rocks were sturdy before I trusted my weight on them. When I reached the old man, I crouched by him as my tail swayed. "Anything broken?" I asked.

"No, but my leg's injured." He chuckled while rubbing the back of his head.

"We can take care of that when we get out of here." Glancing around, I saw where he had probably come down from and I knew to avoid that area. "Okay, don't touch the tail and I'll be able to carry you back up." I stated as my tail wrapped around the old man's waist. He looked surprised to see it, but kept his hands clear out of the way as I drug him to the cliff.

Since he was old, he wasn't that heavy, and my tail held on to him like a tree branch. I had to be more careful than before as I climbed back up because of the extra weight, but I managed and Ginko helped me get the old Mushishi over the ledge.

~

"So you slipped and hurt your leg." The boy summed up as he poured food into a bowl.

"I ate the seeds and leaves that were around me." Mujika replied as Ginko took the food offered to him. "I had water with me. I must have caused trouble to the people of the village....not being able to tell them the will of the guardian." He sighed while limping over to the fire. My ear twitched as the fire crackled and I ate quickly while looking at the old man.

He didn't seem normal to me. There was something about him that nagged at me, telling me that he was more than just some old Mushishi, but I wasn't sure why.

"To be saved by another Mushishi and a half-Mushi...." Mujika smiled while holding out a gourd with sake in it.

"I'm Ginko." The white haired man replied while holding up his cup.

"I'm Mujika. It's a bit embarrassing, but thank you." And the old man offered me some and I shook my head.

"I'm Koga." I told him, and he raised a brow as if asking if I was sure I didn't want a drink. "Alcohol makes me restless." I said.

"Koga would be hanging from your ceiling if she drank." Ginko warned the old guy. Mujika chuckled as he sat the gourd down next to him.

"I thought of this mountain like my own backyard, but to slip and fall there...." He lightly laughed while patting the boy's head. The kid looked like he was about to fall asleep sitting up and I wondered how long he'd been up trying to find his teacher. "I've aged." And the boy laid down as he passed out. "It's probably time to leave my post."

"As the mountain's guardian?" I asked.

"You picked up on that?" Ginko questioned.

"I can sense it." I replied.

"Hm." He hummed before turning his attention to the old man. "You know, the only thing that can release an intruder from the Mugura is either the mountain's real guardian, or a person using the guardian spell. The recent change in the mountain is due to the fact that you fell off a cliff and weren't able to transmit your spells."

"Yeah." Mujika sighed. "But starting tomorrow, I should still be able to continued my duties. The mountain will go back to its usual self."

"I heard it was tough for a person to act as the guardian. Is there a reason why you're doing this?" Ginko lowered his sake as he looked at Mujika.

"I'm sure you've noticed this, but this place is a river of life."

"Yeah, noticed." I grumbled.

"There was a legitimate guardian here to suppress the extreme amount of energy. But, a person from the village accidentally killed it. Soon, the river began to smell like sake and the trees starved and rotted away. I used to be a traveling Mushishi too, but I started to come to this village often. When I saw the people of the village in despair, I decided to become the guardian. Maybe it was because of the energy here in the mountain that my wife had a short life." Mujika said as Ginko pulled out a cigarette.

"So you're going to make him the next guardian?" The man next to me looked to the boy contently sleeping by the old man.

"Yeah, that's right."

"It seemed like he knew his way around the mountain."

"I bet. He was born from the mountain and raised by the mountain." My ears perked as the older Mushishi covered the boy up to keep him warm as he slept.

"Huh?"

"Did you see the number of children in the village? Because of the water that flows out of this mountain, the women bear children, one after another. But, they can't raise all of them, they throw them away in the mountain. He may be the only one that didn't get eaten by something in the forest. But, all of his siblings who were kept in the village, died young. It's been a year since his parents found out that he was still alive, so they took him back to the village." Mujika explained.

"That's a selfish story." Ginko said lowly.

"That's true, but it can't be helped. That's what's best for him." The old man softly smiled and my ears twitched when I heard a bell again. It sounded a bit louder than earlier, but that could be because of how quiet the night was. "Have you always been a traveling Mushishi?" Mujika asked while refilling Ginko's cup.

"Yes. I have a tendency to attract Mushi. If I stay in one place, I make it a gathering place for Mushi." The man next to me replied while tapping the ashes off of his cigarette into the fire pit. "I learned how to get rid of Mushi out of necessity."

"So that's why you have to smoke."

"It's not much. And it fits my personality." Ginko softly smiled.

"I see."

"I also don't have to do it as much as before because of Koga."

"Why is that?"

"Her Mushi half seems to repel other Mushi to a degree. I have yet to figure out why, but I believe it has to do with the type of Mushi she is." He said before taking a sip of his sake.

"I see. As a person who can't leave this mountain, I'm a bit jealous. For better or for worse, my bones will not be buried anywhere else."

~

"I'm going back to the village to let everyone know you're okay, but don't strain yourself too much."

"I know." Mujika smiled. "You remember to only come back to the mountain when I give the all clear to do so." He pat the boy's head. "You take care too."

"Yes, and you too." Ginko replied as I simply nodded my head. Walking down the mountain from Mujika's house, I could hardly contain myself as my body absorbed energy from the forest again. When we reached to village, I had to lean on Ginko as I was panting while trying to just even walk straight. Kodama had been worried, but the Mushishi said it was just an allergic reaction and I'd be fine after getting some medicine.

The kid was skeptical, but said nothing as Ginko lead me away to somewhere secluded to help me get rid of the extra energy in my body. He didn't prolong it or tease me like last time because one of the villagers could accidentally catch us, so he was quick to get me drooling and shaking as his name spilled from my lips.

After we got back to the village, Ginko taught me a way I could block the energy of the mountain from soaking into my body again. It took me a few hours to get it, but I eventually caught on while the villagers were celebrating how Mujika was okay.

Later that night while everyone was asleep, I woke up with a start as I jumped to my feet. I had heard the bell again, but it was even louder than before. Uncovering my ears as I stood still to listen again, I heard that bell once more and woke up Ginko.

"Ginko!" I whispered while shaking his shoulder. His eyes blinked a few times as he tiredly looked at me. "Ginko, the bell's moving." I said in a hushed tone and he glanced to my ears as they stuck out. "It sounds like it's coming this way." And it looked like he was fully awake now as he quickly got to his feet and gathered his things.

Following him outside, I hardly had time to get my shoes on and I was so confused and a bit panicked from the look on his face and how fast he was heading towards the mountain.

"Hey, wait! What's going on?" I hissed as we passed some houses.

"Mushi." Was all that he said while stuffing his hands into his pockets and looking around. "Where's it coming from?"

"It's hard to tell with the echo, but it sounded like that way." I pointed, my finger directing his gaze to beyond the rice fields and just past the horizon.

"Ginko-san! Koga-san!" Kodama came running up and we turned to look at him as I dropped my hand. "That sound is strange." He stated. "There are no bells around here, and my parents say they can't hear it." He paused while looking up at us. "I wonder if it's some type of Mushi."

"I'm going to ask you something."

"What?"

"Have you learned the spell of the guardian yet?" Ginko questioned.

"Guardian?"

"It's the spell for someone to become the guardian. By keeping Mugura inside of your body, you're always riding them. Even when you're sleeping, everything that's going on in the forest flows into your body. To be able to withstand that and control the Mugura, it's possible to gain the power to control the abundant amount of energy in the mountain." The Mushishi explained.

"I haven't learned it yet." Kodama replied.

"I see." Ginko said lowly. "Oh, that sound of the bell is not a Mushi that you need to worry about. Go home, and go back to sleep."

"Where are you going?"

"We were in the middle of a stroll. Koga, why don't you make sure he gets back safely?" And I looked at the back of the man's head as he walked away. I knew he was lying about the Mushi....but I couldn't just let him go off on his own if it was actually dangerous, nor could I risk Kodama getting involved with the Mushi Ginko was concerned with. Clenching my jaw, I grabbed the kids shoulder while turning him around.

"Come on, Kodama." I mumbled, but he dug his feet into the ground and wouldn't budge.

"No!" He said firmly. "Something's wrong, you're ears are drooping like a dog's. What's going on?"

"....Look, kid, if I let you come with me, you have to stay near the bottom of the mountain, do you understand? I can't have you running around in case something happens. I need you to be back up, okay? And back up is useless if they get hurt."

"Okay, I promise." Nodding as I saw the serious look in his eyes, I grabbed his wrist and pulled him along with me.

"Step where I step or you'll make a lot of noise." I quietly said over my shoulder when we reached the bottom of the mountain. "When we get to where the energy is dense in the forest, I want you to stay hidden until I give a signal."

"Signal?"

"You'll know it when you hear it." I stated, but my head jerked up as my ears perked when I heard the bell again. It was getting closer.... Kodama was careful to follow my words and only placed his feet where I had already stepped. When we finally reached where the golden glow on the trees became thick, I turned to the kid and made sure he was looking at me. "Wait here. And remember what I said, I need you as back up, so don't go running into danger if there is any. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now-" And I was cut off by the deafening sound of the bell as a Mushi bigger than a whale was flying past overhead. All I could see was its stomach that was segmented like a snake and I pushed Kodama under a visible root. "Stay here!" I quickly said before kicking off my shoes and running in the direction the giant Mushi was heading. My feet moved quickly, kicking up dirt and dead leaves as my tail kept me balanced.

I kept my eyes on the Mushi in the sky and on the forest around me so that I wouldn't trip. The trees and brush went past in a blur as I bolted through the forest. I didn't know what this Mushi was, but it wasn't brightly glowing and that meant it was dangerous. It looked to be covered in scales that were white as snow, but I couldn't see its head or tail and only it's stomach.

I was panting as my lungs burned, but the Mushi was faster in reaching the top of the mountain. The Mushi was already gone when I finally got there, and I went pale when I saw Ginko laying in the dirt.

"Ginko!" I shouted, dropping to my knees at his side. Grabbing the front of his coat, I tried to wake him up. "Ginko! Hey! Ginko!" Patting his cheek, nothing was working and he was just limp as I shook him. "Ginko!" I could feel tears pricking at my eyes and I felt under his jaw for a pulse. It was there, but it was faint. "Stay with me, Ginko, okay? Just hang in there and stay with me." I said quickly, seeing the giant Mushi coiling in the sky like a serpent the size of a dragon.

With help from my tail, I managed to get the Mushishi onto my back and I felt his soft breath on my neck. Okay, good. If I didn't feel that, I have the right to completely freak out.

"Ginko, I swear, if this is you dying, I'm going to fucking kill you." I fought off crying as I carried the man down the mountain. It was hard because he was heavier than the old man and larger than me as well. I nearly fell a few times, but I caught my footing and walked closer to trees to use their showing roots like stairs down the mountain.

When I reached Kodama, he was asking me so many questions I just simply couldn't answer, and once he realized I couldn't, he helped me with Ginko. Getting the Mushishi back to the village safely, my tail was impatiently swaying like a cat's as Kodama gave Ginko something to dispel Mushi. The kid used the knowledge he got from Mujika to help Ginko and I hardly left the man's side.

At night when I had to sleep, my only comfort was laying my head on Ginko's chest so that I could listen to his heartbeat. It was constantly thumping, pumping blood throughout his body as it sounded stronger than before. Whatever had happened on that mountain had me a bit scared, but I tried to ignore my fear by focusing on the strong beat beneath my ear that told me Ginko was going to be okay....

~

"Koga....what are you doing?" My eyes fluttered open from the rumbling in the chest beneath my head.

"Ginko?" I tiredly mumbled while seeing the man looking down at me. He raised his visible brow and my face lit up seeing that was awake. "Ginko!" And I grabbed his face while kissing him. He tensed from surprise and confusion, then I glared at him when I pulled back. "Don't you ever fucking dare do that again!" I growled before kissing him again. The green eyed man still seemed a bit confused, but rolled with it as he gently grabbed the back of my head.

"Koga, I'm coming in." I heard Kodama's voice and I dropped Ginko's face while quickly sitting up. The Mushishi's hand was still in the air as he stared at the cieling, but dropped his hand while he sighed and Kodama came into the room. "He's awake?"

"Yeah." I nodded while glancing to the Mushishi. The boy sat down on the other side of Ginko as the man looked at him, and the kid began to explain everything that happened since he had been unconscious.

"There was no sign of Mujika. I looked for him a while after that, but I couldn't find him. Even his house was gone. And no one in the village remembers Mujika." Kodama said.

"....By being eaten by the Kuchinawa....you pass on guardianship to it." Ginko explained before he sat up. "It seems as if the only people who remember him were those in the mountain when it occurred." He glanced around and paused, seeing the little plate placed around him. "Huh? Did you make Mushi exterminating medicine?"

"Yeah. But I could only burn it while Koga was out." The kid replied.

"That's pretty good." Ginko softly said.

"It's nothing." Kodama looked down. "I'm Mujika's apprentice after all."

"Oi, Kodama!" A woman opened the door as she leaned her head in. "Apparently, there's a tree that can't be cut. Do you know anything?"

"I'll be right there." The boy answered and I saw Ginko gently smiling. "I'll be right back." Kodama said as he was leaving.

"Don't worry about it." The white haired man said before turning to me when the kid was gone. He grabbed the front of my shirt before tugging me towards him and planting his lips on mine. Calmly letting me go what felt like only a second later, Ginko threw the blankets off of himself. "Thanks." He said lowly.

~

"It's amazing." Ginko said as he plopped down in the middle of a field. "Not even knowing how I felt." He smirked as snow was slowly falling around us. "Don't you think so, Kuchinawa?" The man mumbled while looking to the mountain as a puff of smoke rose from his mouth.

The giant, serpentine Mushi was perched on the mountain as it was coiled around the very top. It was as white and pure looking as the snow drifting down from the sky, but the lack of a bright glow determined that the Mushi was much more dangerous than it seemed. Leaning on Ginko's shoulders, I also looked at the Mushi from the disctance.

"I would have kicked it's ass if it had eaten you, but since it didn't, I can say that it looks kind of pretty sitting there." My voice was low as I spoke, and Ginko only chuckled as white smoke rose from the end of his cigarette.

After crying like it was yawning, the Kuchinawa just rolled it's body quietly.


End file.
